


he's beauty; he's grace

by kaise



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, EXO - Freeform, Fluff, Kai - Freeform, Kaihun - Freeform, M/M, Model Sehun, Romance, Sehun - Freeform, jongin - Freeform, sekai - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-09-26 08:31:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 35,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9876671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaise/pseuds/kaise
Summary: Sehun is an uprising model, and his career is going up smoothly as he's surrounded by love and support but, no, definitely not from Jongin.





	1. One

The cameras flashing are blinding his eyes, as Sehun focuses on maintaining his balance on the runway. Donning clothes from Alexander McQueen’s fall collection as it hangs heavy on his body, his face puts on a serious look and gazing straight ahead.

Working in the industry for a solid five years, he had finally acquired a recognition for his hard work and talent. 

Only until recently he was nominated as _“Model of The Year”_ by a few famous fashion magazines, even Vogue. Ever since that, he always hears many girls giggling when he passes by on the runway.

Little did they know, Sehun’s found a liking to guys more than girls, but his manager thinks it’s better to keep quiet about it for another year than to have public fits thrown towards him. 

His feet is now taking him backstage as the staff ushers him inside, and he carefully shimmies out of his clothes but making sure to be quick. 

The backstage is a hustle right now with models fitting into their next outfit and the exasperated staffs rushing from here to there. Another staff comes up to him with another pair of clothes he’ll be walking in.

He eyes the fabric he’ll be wearing, a shirt with irregular black and white pattern, and as an outer, the suit is one of the simpler designs with black as the base color and a line of silver medals on its breast pocket.

The bottom wear is also black colored with subtle irregular lines running across the fabric and pristine white oxford shoes to complete the entire outfit. 

The perks of having a broad shoulder are the clothes he walks in, always falls nicely on him. Not to mention, the shower of compliments of how good he looks in even atrocious clothing.

He walks straight into the line of models, waiting for his cue to walk the runway. This is the last round of walk before the finale where he’ll walk with the designer so he might as well make the best out of it and throws off his signature move.

In the end, he did it in front of the countless cameras ready to snap photos of him, and when he shows off his signature smirk, the showering flashing lights were too bright for his eyes, but it unfazed his balance and he walks back triumphantly.

Later backstage after they walked the finale, everyone’s cheering “Great show!” “A success!” around the packed room as a few other staffs shake hands with him, congratulating a big success on the show. 

After a good half an hour or so, Sehun finally changes into his comfortable clothes and head out for an after party. He hadn’t quite taken off his subtle makeup, and his hair is styled messily, he thinks it’s definitely okay, not that he cares what other people thinks.

The fashion show is held in a huge warehouse where Sehun isn’t sure if it’s abandoned or owned by someone. 

The warehouse is decorated with the theme of Alexander McQueen’s fall collection, so it’s mostly of a classical theme where the floors were plastered with a white marbled pattern on it, and empty black frames hung on the walls.

He gets into the crowd in the outdoor area where it’s decorated with black and white as they’re dominantly the color theme. A few eyes are glancing at him as they notice the model and he kindly smiles back. 

Sehun usually doesn’t go to after parties if not for an important reason, and this time, he’s going to his brother, Junmyeon.

He roams around the garden, finding a hard time looking for his older brother between the crowd. His brother promises to meet him in the after party, and he secretly misses the older boy, since he’s busy these days, walking in shows season after season.

Junmyeon was the first person to support his dream to be a model, and he’s the one who helped him get into modeling schools.

His older brother is busy as well for he had just been promoted to Vice President in a well-known company, but somehow, he always makes time for nearly every show Sehun walked in. 

Having Junmyeon by his side as he slowly aims towards being one of the top models feels great and familiar because he can still feel like home whenever his older brother is around. 

But during these times, Sehun feels burdened by his brother for Junmyeon is shorter in height than him, he can easily drown in the sea of crowd. 

As his focus is solely in searching Junmyeon, he fails to notice someone cutting past in front of him, and when he does, he’s too late as he trips on the person’s extended leg. He lets out a small scream as he braces for the impact onto the ground, but it never happened. 

Sehun opens one of his eyes to see the person he got tripped on, is now holding his arm. The person has his droopy eyes on Sehun’s flustered face, and he pulls Sehun to stand up straight. 

“Thank you for saving me from further embarrassment,” Sehun breathes out a sigh of relief. He's met with a familiar face, and it knocks his breath when he administers that in front of him right now, is the ever famous Kim Jongin, a well-known fashion journalist, one of the best in the field.

“You’re welcome,” there’s a thin smile on Jongin’s lips, and his brown eyes are hiding behind black-rimmed glasses which gives him off a cute look. 

“Watch where you’re going, or you might end up falling anyways.” 

He schools a cold look as he steps away immediately, and in a swift motion, he lines up in the queue for what the sign says, **_“Beef Cutlet,”_** without letting Sehun say anything more.

_That was awkward, what the hell._

Sehun shrugs it off, his feet taking him to a less crowded area near the door to the warehouse. Intending to call for Junmyeon, his hand reaches into the pocket of his pants. 

He dials the number, and the line rings a few times before the other picks it up, a cheery voice greeting him, “Sehun!”

“Damn it, Junmyeon, where are you?”

“Sorry, I was in the restroom. You’re in the after party already?” 

In the corner of Sehun’s eyes, he sees his manager walking towards him. He gestures for Sehun to follow him and Sehun nods as he follows him inside the warehouse again. 

“Yes, but I had something coming up. Can you just meet me inside in about half an hour?”

He closes the phone call, after hearing Junmyeon mutter, “See you there then.” 

They’re walking to the backstage where he still sees a few staff around, and his manager stops his pace. He greets his manager in a friendly manner, “What’s up, Chen?”

Two people are walking towards them as Chen introduces them, “Sehun, let me introduce you to Xiumin, one of the senior PR.” Sehun shakes hand with Xiumin, muttering his name in return and how it’s a pleasure to be able to meet a senior PR.

He silently thinks of how young Xiumin looks for someone being called as a senior PR. He shifts his eyes to the other person, a startled expression present on Sehun’s face when he sees that the other person is Jongin.

Jongin gives him a small nod before Chen formally introduces him, “And this is Jongin, currently the most trending and renowned fashion journalist.”

Sehun shakes Jongin’s offered hand, formally greeting him. He had always said the same formal greetings when he meets a professional that Chen introduces just because it’s practical and he can change it a bit as time passes.

To his betrayal, Sehun’s eyes keep stealing a few glance at Jongin, who is paying attention at Xiumin. Like any other journalist, Jongin is sporting a formal attire, but Sehun recognizes that unlike any other journalist with their stereotypical black suits, Jongin puts a little edge of his style to his attire.

In a glance, Sehun knows that Jongin is wearing one of Alexander McQueen’s spring collection. He’s currently dressed in a long coat with gray undertones and a black collar of velvet material, and his dress pants are of similar tone as his coat. 

There’s a journal tugged beneath his arm, and he’s wearing black rimmed glasses, making him look cute yet even more professional. For someone with a job as a fashion journalist, he’s way too good-looking, and he could get away with being a model. 

Even his physique meets to the ideal requirements for a male model. Tall even though he’s a tad bit shorter than Sehun is, with a well-built lean figure. 

Jongin’s pastel pink hair—an odd hair color indeed for a fashion journalist but who is Sehun to judge—styled neatly and the model material look on his face.

 _Heck, his jawline can cut a bitch,_ Sehun thinks as his gaze shift lower to the journalist’s sharp jawline. Focusing too much on Jongin’s features, his ear mutes the conversation that had been going on between Xiumin and Chen until he hears his name called out. 

“Sehun, you’re a rising model at a young age, and you’ve been nominated for such a big award lately.” 

Xiumin compliments him, and Sehun responds with a confident smile. Having someone as high rank as a senior PR praising him is such a great achievement on Sehun’s part.

“I wouldn’t get the recognition and nomination if it weren’t for my hard work, thank you.”

“Tell me, what’s your motivation or driving force that ables you to reach this far?”

“Other than hard work, the support I get from my family and friends also from the public. Not to mention the help I get from staffs behind the scene, they’re also a big part of it.”

“Well spoken, Sehun, and I personally agree that the staffs also take on a significant role in helping models especially behind the stage,” Xiumin nods his head approvingly, a satisfied smile on his lips.

“As there are countless of models competing with you, how do you manage to make other people recognize you in the runways?”

“I have a trademark,” Sehun then feels shy that he had to tell the PR what exactly his trademark is because he even thinks it’s quite cheesy, “A smirk, either along with a wink or just a smirk.”

Another voice chimes in, his voice slices the air sharply that Sehun could feel it, “That’s stupid.”

Sehun’s taken aback at the remark. He knows the voice as Jongin’s since the latter is now staring at him, his eyes piercing him.

“Excuse me?” Sehun scoffs, as he schooled his features, trying not to let his agitation evident on his face. 

He knows he’s not supposed to be offended since critics are critics and he needs to be open-minded for those, but the way Jongin says irks him. He’s blunt with his remarks, his voice is brimming with his egotistic personality, and his face had contorted to a smug expression.

“You don’t need a particular move as your trademark. A trademark goes in many ways, and one truly becomes a top model when he or she has a trademark without it being too obvious,” Jongin snaps back, his gaze trained on Sehun's as one of his hand comes up to push back the bridge of his glasses.

Sehun is now very pissed, and he’s trying his best to be professional, he doesn’t want his reputation ruined over a harsh critic. He can feel his self-control crumbling slowly, and if Jongin doesn’t get out of his line of vision, he might punch the guy out of his emotions. 

Next, to him, Chen is also taken aback, but as he is used to such remarks within the industry, he politely excuses Sehun and him. As they both walk away, Sehun hears Xiumin bidding a goodbye, there’s a hint of pity in his face, “We’ll be meeting again soon, Sehun.”

Sehun honestly wishes he won’t meet Jongin again, and if it means he won’t meet Xiumin anymore, then so be it, even though the senior PR is such a nice person and it’s good to know Sehun is on his good side.

He doesn’t hate being criticized, but if someone criticizes him in a smug manner because they acknowledge themselves for knowing better, then they’ll find their name in Sehun’s _“who? Exactly”_ list.

Just as they’re far away from Jongin's and Xiumin’s hearing distance, Sehun lets out a groan before he exclaims in a loud voice in the already quiet stage venue, “What the hell was that?”

“Calm down, Sehun, take it easy,” Chen is rubbing his back, but Sehun just wants to punch someone if he can’t punch a punching bag. He’s on the verge of losing his temper, his attempt to relax by breathing in and breathing out isn’t working at all.

 _I can’t calm down, holy shit,_ he curses in the back of his mind. 

He walks back and forth to take his mind off of it, in front of a sighing Chen. After a few minutes of walking back and forth mindlessly, Chen’s hand reaches Sehun’s arm, and he pulls Sehun down to sit on the nearby chair.

“Listen to me, Sehun. That was just one of the critics and critics build you up, remember? Don’t let it get to your mind, much more to your heart.” 

But it was too late. Those words are starting to play in a loop with Jongin’s voice echoing in his mind.

“I know that, but that journalist’s attitude irks me.”

“You mean Jongin? Let me give you a heads up. Jongin became a well-known fashion journalist because his critics had always been blunt. Everyone appreciates him for being very honest.”

Sehun scoffs, crossing his arms as he imagines Jongin’s smug look in his mind again, and regrets it right away because it pisses him off more, “I honestly don’t fucking care. He has such an immense pride for his better knowledge in the industry, and he flaunts it.”

“He does, actually,” Chen mumbles softly, his eyes staring downwards to the floor as he avoids Sehun’s questioning gaze. Sehun seems as if he genuinely doesn’t know the slightest thing about Jongin other than he’s a well-known journalist. 

Chen admits a little of him regrets he never told Sehun about Jongin’s remarkable journey in fashion and how he had managed to create his benchmark. As a manager, Chen cares about Sehun more than a manager should.

“Jongin was a model ever since he was a kid, and he had become a top model with the highest paying until he knew about the perks of being a fashion journalist. He likes challenging himself, that’s why he ended up as a fashion journalist.”

“Wait, how come I never knew?” 

“He’s well known with his stage name, Kai. When he became a fashion journalist, he gave up the stage name and uses his real name instead.”

Sehun knew about a model named Kai, who always got positive criticisms in all of his walks and photo shoots. He didn’t know Kai was the highest paid top model back then and he was doting on another model, so he never actually kept track on about Kai at all.

_But still, that doesn’t change the fact that he's a smug asshole._

Sehun stomps his feet grumpily while he’s still in his seat, his lips pursing. He stands up abruptly, his body language speaks of anger itself.

“There you are!” He hears Junmyeon exclaiming, as he rushes to Sehun and pulls him into a hug.

 All Sehun needs that moment is a comfort, and Junmyeon’s hugs give off just that, so he succumbs to the warm embrace, propping his chin to Junmyeon’s shoulder.

After they pull back, Junmyeon notices the agitated look on Sehun’s face and is concerned, knowing something is going on with his little brother. Being close with Junmyeon has pros and cons, and Sehun’s not sure if Junmyeon being able to read him like an open book is a pro or a con.

“What happened? You look upset.”

“I’m alright, it’s nothing.”

“Oh Sehun,” Junmyeon’s tone turns hard, urging him to speak up and Sehun can’t help but groan in annoyance.

“Tell me what’s wrong. No one upsets my little brother.”

“I’m not little anymore, hyung. I’m turning 24 in 3 months.”

“You’re still younger than me by a few years. I can call you little, Sehun.”

“But in height, you’re shorter than me by a few inches. I can also call you little, hyung,” Sehun teases his older brother, and he knows he’s sensitive about his height. Junmyeon, therefore, tries punching Sehun, but to no avail, Sehun catches his fist right in time.

“I would try hitting you again, but you’re pissed already, and I’m a good brother, I’ll help you.”

“I don’t need your help,” Sehun’s voice trails hesitantly, eyes glancing elsewhere to avoid Junmyeon’s gaze towards him, “I just want a good sleep, I have a beach shoot tomorrow.”

“Sooner or later, you will tell me what happened,” Junmyeon presses on the word ‘will’ as he starts walking out of the venue, and Sehun hurriedly catches up to him after bidding Chen a goodbye and a “See you tomorrow, boss.”

“Leaning more to later,” Sehun answers him, a small smile on his lips as Junmyeon tries to flick his forehead but his little brother is way taller than him, and he fails again to no avail.

 

 

Sehun is up early because of Chen's endless phone calls, and he even called Junmyeon to wake Sehun up. So now, he’s in the car, on his way to the beach for his shoot and he feels like dozing off, but the car keeps shaking, preventing him from his quick nap.

He curses under his breath as he hears Chen’s joyous laugh, seeing a sleepy and grumpy Sehun, cursing when the car jolts suddenly. They get to the beach an hour later, after what it seems like an eternity of a rough journey. He’s greeted with staffs, the moment he steps out of the car, usher him into a tent.

Chen comes up behind him, when he sits on the chair, “Today will be a long day, and it’s sunny.”

“I know, and my fans said I need to get a tan for my skin is too pale.”

“Then it’s good for you to have a shoot out in the sun and you’ll probably get a burn since it’s too sunny, it’s practically like an oven out there,” Chen sighs exaggeratedly as he sits on a bench nearby, “I think I’m going to stay here.”

Sehun side-eyes him, and he sees Chen’s smug smirk because he knows Sehun doesn’t like sunny days and he hates it when his manager gets the benefit of resting underneath the tent. Meanwhile, he’ll be out there in the excruciating sunlight.

There’s a rustling sound from his left, and a familiar voice comes up, loud and clear, “There’s my super model!” 

Sehun turns his head to the voice, a smile on his lips when he sees Luna walking, or more like skipping towards him. She looks gorgeous as per usual, and her long light brown hair braided messily.

“Hey, Luna. You look pretty as always.”

“Are you sweet talking me, honey? Just shut up and let me do my job, Sehun,” but she winks anyways to him.

“So the head director of today’s shoot wants it to be natural,” Sehun nods his head mindlessly, “But he also wants you to be slightly tanner.”

Sehun’s face perks up at that, eyebrows contorting in confusion as he stares at Luna, “But I’ll be tanner anyways.”

“You’ll be tanner after the shoot, not on the shoot,” he hears a snort coming from Chen. 

After another hour of going through his makeup and getting a tan spray on his pale skin along with it, he feels slightly disgusted from the smell, and it looks more of an orange than a tan. He fits into his beach attire, sporting a white shirt with the buttons open, khaki pants, and he’s barefoot. 

Not to forget a pair of black sunglasses since it's a Rayban shoot, then he’s all set for the shoot. He can’t help but take a few selfies for his stock of display pictures. At least Luna spares his face fewer sprays, so his face still looks okay.

He quickly takes a video and photo of the setting for his Snapchat before he heads to the photographer. The theme for the shoot is a ‘happy beach shoot’ so he’s left to interpret and he thinks he’ll probably put out a few smiles.

He’ll be working with another model, but he didn’t know he’ll be working with a friend when he sees Baekhyun waving his hand cheerily at Sehun, grinning ear to ear. He looks equally tan—or orange—so that’s comforting to him. Sehun waves back to him, equally in high spirit.

On set, he hears Baekhyun whining, glancing at his now orange arms, “These look so tacky and fake. We’re tan, and we’ll get a tan. This kind of shoot should be illegal.”

“It doesn’t even look like a tan. We look like cheese flavored Cheetos.”

“You don’t need to put a name for what we look like right now, Sehun. Now I can't unsee how we look like two human-sized Cheetos,” the older boy beside him is frowning, and Sehun snorts before the photographer tells them to get ready.

The blitz under the sunny day is hardly noticeable as the day is already bright enough. Even under the intense heat, everything goes by as per usual and they’re into the second session, having their solo shots. 

Sehun is wearing another attire, a sleeveless ocean blue shirt with surfer pants. The disgust at his tan stays permanent, but he tries paying no mind to it. 

He poses in front of the camera, his confidence overcoming his disgust. Showing off his smile a few times, the photographer exclaims a line of praises towards him, “Good good!” “Tilt your chin up a bit. Perfect!” “Stop right there and look into the camera. Perfect!” “Beautiful smile!”

Sehun is getting the hang of it, and he’s enjoying the shoot much more than he expected. In another session with Baekhyun, the photographer’s asking them to pose together. Baekhyun opts to stand straight as his hands tug onto his unbuttoned shirt, and Sehun leans his arm on Baekhyun's shoulder.

He hears a scoff from Baekhyun’s lips, “I know I’m shorter than you but don’t take it as an advantage.”

“For me to look cooler, I’ll take the advantage, thanks.”

Baekhyun playfully pinches Sehun’s side, causing Sehun to erupt in a peal of laughter, he’s ticklish, and it’s one of the things he hates about himself. 

His laughter dies down when he notices someone familiar standing underneath the tent, staring at him before looking into the previews on the screen.

It turns out, the older boy beside him sees him as well, shaking his head before his hands go to the loopholes of his pants, “There goes the hot mess.” 

“Is that who I think it is?”

“Yes, that’s the Kim Jongin. I hate how conflicted I am towards him, he’s hot, but he’s a douche.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Sehun shrugs it off, as he picks up a ukulele near him, slinging it on his shoulder and gazing into the camera. He can feel the journalist’s stare, a stare so irking that he became so sensitive to it.

“Why is he our head director?” Baekhyun asks rhetorically, breaking Sehun’s focus. _Hold the fuck up, what?_

The photographer seems to notice the change of expression on Sehun's face, “Oh Sehun, what’s wrong?”

Sehun waves his hand in dismissal, sending a small reassuring smile to the photographer. In the corner of his eyes, he can see Jongin shaking his head slowly.

“He’s our head director?” Sehun asks discreetly, careful not to look too obvious.

“I thought you knew?” He changes his pose into slinging his arm around Baekhyun’s shoulder—for one or two reasons—. He lets Baekhyun take the ukulele away from him.

“I didn’t, why the fuck do we have him?”

“I don’t know, why would I know?” Baekhyun side-eyes him, “What’s up with you and him?”

“We’re not on good terms,” Sehun hesitates, it's more like he hates him instead of the other way, “Actually it's more like me to him.”

Baekhyun chuckles before muttering, “Don't we all?”

After tons of more shots, they’re finally on break, and the pictures taken are being shown to them. Sehun nods his head in approval and excuses himself to take a few pics from his phone. Just in case if he wants to give spoilers through Instagram.

He pockets his phone, just in time when Jongin comes near him, standing by his right side. As he looks through the previews flashing on the screen, he hums to a certain rhythm, his eyes scrutinizing to every shot.

“So what do you think?” the photographer asks. 

“Good,” Jongin leaves the group crowding the screen, and Sehun has that urge to punch him in the face once again.

After Jongin is out of hearing distance, Baekhyun whispers to him, “What a prick,” and Sehun barks a laugh in response because _that’s so true._

He walks inside his tent to change into another attire, when he comes face to face with Jongin, who’s leaning on the vanity, his arms crossed as if he’s waiting for Sehun.

 _Why is he here?_ But Sehun’s lips curve into a thin smile instead, _what’s a nice excuse for fuck off?_

“I’m changing, can you excuse me?”

“You’re too stiff.”

Sehun frowns, wondering if that was another critic from the man across him, “I’m sorry?”

“Your poses are too stiff,” Jongin pushes back his glasses as it starts to slide down the bridge of his nose, probably from the sweat forming by the heat, “And do you even have emotions? Your face lacks in that.”

_Ouch, that was rude._

Sehun tries his best not to roll his eyes in front of the journalist, so in return, he throws a sarcastic remark, “Geez, thanks.”

“That’s a critic, and you should learn from it,” Jongin’s feet starts walking away out of the tent. If Jongin hadn’t snapped at him, Sehun would’ve admitted that the journalist is looking so hot with the sleeves of his patterned shirt rolled up to his elbows.

Jongin stops in his tracks when he hears, “And you, Kim Jongin, need to understand that there’s a thin line between criticism and plain rude.”

Sehun’s clenched fists are hidden behind his back. He smirks when he sees Jongin glancing at him, before walking out of the tent in silence. Damn, it feels nice to snap back at the journalist.

 

 

The next few days, his Twitter is buzzing with mentions about a particular article talking about his walk for the Alexander McQueen summer collection ’18. 

He opens the link, and the bold letters of the article's headline are blaring back at him, **“Oh Sehun for Alexander McQueen: magic or tragic?”**  

Eyes wide, he scrolls down the article to see the journalist behind the article. Without even a slight feeling of surprise, the culprit behind it is no other than Kim Jongin.

There’s a picture of him sporting the last outfit from the walk, and he’s winking at the camera. He reads the comment beneath it from the journalist, _“A wink as a trademark move? Even more atrocious than the outfit itself.”_

A minute later, he sees his manager and Junmyeon barging into his room, both talking frantically about the trending article. There’s a mix of panic and horror in Chen’s face, and Sehun swears it’s the first time he sees Chen so affected by a negative article. 

“This is not good,” Chen voices out, taking in sharp breaths as if he had run to his house.

“I thought you said critics are critics,” Sehun raises his eyebrows, sitting on his bed.

“They are but with a headline like this? And from the Kim Jongin himself?” Chen is exasperated at this point. He looks like he could pass out any moment.

There’s another buzz from Chen’s phone and the manager opens it in a quick motion. His thumb is scrolling through it, then Chen drops onto the lounge chair as he groans loudly, catching Sehun surprised.

Junmyeon grabs his phone in time when Chen lets it go, and he curses when he sees what’s displayed on the phone, “Give him a fucking break.”

Finally, Sehun gets to see the other article, and it’s indeed about him. The headline reads, **“Oh Sehun and Byun Baekhyun for Rayban.”** _So far, nothing wrong with the headline_.

He skims the article, finding several words that include _expressionless, stiff,_ and much more snarky remarks thrown across the article. He sighs, it’s honestly not the first time he gets a negative response in articles, but this is from _Kim Jongin._

Someone who is reputable in what he does that even Chen, who usually shrugs off the negative commentaries, fears for the journalist’s impact on Sehun’s modeling career.

Unlike any other negative article who Sehun notices is biased, Jongin’s, in particular, doesn’t sound biased at all, and he’s just genuinely blunt and honest from his experience.

_Apparently, he knows he’s good with what he’s doing, and he swells pride with it. An A class prick._

Oddly, Sehun's observant eye notices a small pattern in what Jongin wrote of him from his word choice to writing style. To make sure, he’ll need to compare it with Jongin’s other articles.

Sehun sighs, looking across to Chen who still has his palm covering his face, “So what do I do? There’s nothing I can do besides moving on and continue this career, Chen. You know that.”

Junmyeon chimes in as he sits next to Sehun, the bed dipping slightly, “Modelling had been your dream, and I don’t want you to lose that just because a famous journalist wrote two bad articles of you. You should keep following the schedule Chen planned and try steering clear off that journalist.”

Chen responds before Sehun could, there’s a hint of desperation in his voice, “I agree, we should totally move on and think of this as another critic. You, Sehun, try keeping your attitude around Jongin even though your attitude won’t entirely affect his words in articles.”

“I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything, Chen, he always puts me on edge. If one day, I’m triggered, I won’t hesitate to land my fist on his face.”

“Just don’t let that day come too soon because Sehun, the coming weeks even months of your career will be a bumpy one. Hold on and believe in yourself,” and Chen goes outside of his bedroom with a grim expression on his face.

But not before Sehun hears Chen mumble, “I hope Jongin doesn’t write any more bad articles of you.”

_Let’s hope so, Chen._

 

 

Just as Chen predicted, the next few weeks was bumpy, and Sehun had to face brands turning him down and the list of booked photo shoots running dangerously low. He was even turned down to walk in a few brands’ collection.

Even though he still has Chen continuously cheering him up and Junmyeon, his support system, telling him to be positive and never lose hope, the fire inside Sehun is flickering, threatening to dim.

There are moments when he turns solemn at the mention of one or two high-end brands turning him down for a walk or becoming their brand ambassador. Sehun was only starting to rise, and now he’s struggling even to have a schedule.

He couldn’t believe two articles from Jongin could impact this much on his career. Sehun blames Jongin for what he did but a little of his insecurities points a blame to himself for being lazy to improve, and it isn’t completely Jongin’s fault.

When he spends his day off with Junmyeon, Sehun faintly confesses, “I guess I brought this upon myself.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s my fault that all the brands are turning me down, and the booked photo shoots are running low. I did this to myself.”

“No, it’s not your fault, Sehun. Why would you say that?”

“You can say I was becoming a rising model because of my popularity only, even though I’m still an amateur.”

“Oh Sehun, don’t talk like that,” Junmyeon’s face hardens, he even sounds uptight, “Even if your popularity plays a part in your career, you became a rising model because you have the potential, and everyone sees that. You’re only a step away from letting it show its best, and when that happens, I’ll be seeing you become one of the top models.”

Sehun smiles sincerely at Junmyeon, he’s thankful he has such a supportive brother, who knows how to comfort him and make him feel at least a tad bit better. There’s a momentary pause after Sehun mumbles a ‘thank you,' but then Junmyeon’s voice cuts the calm air.

“Also it’s mostly the journalist’s fault for having such big impact on you. He knows his reach is far and he takes advantage of that to criticize bluntly. What a fucking asshole.”

And that is the moment you know Junmyeon loathes someone, especially when he curses and calls you an asshole in particular.

Sehun boisterous laughter echoes in their apartment before Junmyeon smiles at him and joins laughing. At least he has this free time to spend it with someone who supports and appreciates him for what he is because he can’t wait for the judging glares—he’s been getting it a lot these days—in the photo shoot tomorrow.

 

 

In all honesty, Sehun tries his best to avoid Jongin at all cost in the past month, almost two because he doesn’t want to mess with him—and he isn’t sure if he can hold his punches—. Against all the odds in his favor and more like doom tailing behind his back, the head director for today’s shoot is Kim Jongin, _again._ Or at least what Sehun assumes him to be.

What made his mood shoot down to the deepest pit is he has to see Jongin right on his face. The notorious journalist brushes past in front of him, and Sehun swears he can feel the overpowering ego in the air around him.

Sehun wants to puke at the oozing pride from Jongin as he rushes to his dressing room and sees Chen typing on his phone. He tries to sound casual without any hint of anger, “Chen, when were you going to tell me our head director is the fucking jackass?”

_Smooth, Sehun, smooth._

Chen looks up at him, and Sehun can’t believe he sees a surprise written all over Chen’s face because _isn’t his manager supposed to know who the head director is?_

“Wait, who? Kim Jongin?”

“Who else do I call a fucking jackass in this department, Chen?”

“Well there’s only Jongin left in that category, the rest you dismissed it,” Sehun glares at him in annoyance, “Calm down, Sehun, I wasn’t even notified Jongin is taking the place of the head director because I’m told the head director is Jung Soojung.”

“So he’s not the head director? Why is he here then?”

“I don’t know! Soojung had worked with Jongin a lot, and they’re best friends, or what the industry calls, ‘the conquerors of fashion,' but I never knew that he was going to come down and keep an eye on this shoot.”

_The conquerors of fashion?_

“Why are they called like that?”

“Soojung was and still is a well-known editor and head director of photo shoots, her reach is pretty far. Jongin at that time was the highest-paid model, and his reputation goes far beyond in the industry. One is famous behind the scene, and the other is famous on the scene. They make a perfect duo, and apparently, they’re best friends.”

“Well apparently, the other person is here, and he’s going to find something to shit on about me or even write another negative article.”

“Cut the negativity, Sehun. You can do this. Don’t take into account of his presence because he’s not your head director.”

Sehun sighs in retreat as he sits on his chair and leaves the makeup artist to do his face. He knows that what Chen says is right, but his guts aren’t being supportive as they keep flashing warnings in his mind.

Sure, he can definitely avoid Jongin’s presence but will he be able to prevent another of Jongin’s negative article?

Sehun comes out into the set half an hour later, and he can see in the corner of his eyes, Jongin is glancing at him, and he shrugs it off. He doesn’t want Jongin’s annoying gaze to ruin his mood.

Just as Chen said, a woman in her 20s comes up to him, and she looks gorgeous that Sehun could mistake her as another model if she weren’t wearing a casual preppy outfit. She smiles at him, and Sehun returns it, “Nice to meet you, Sehun. It’s an honor to be able to work with you, I’m Soojung.”

“Thank you for having me, Soojung. So what is the theme for today?”

“The theme is a grunge and rock ’n’ roll vibe because this shoot is sponsored by Saint Laurent’s newest collection that will be shown on the walk in Men’s Fashion Week in Paris.”

“Great, so will I be able to play with the props?”

“You’re welcomed to. It’s a rock ’n’ roll theme after all. Chen,” Soojung motions for Chen, as the mentioned boy scurries to her, “As I said, this is sponsored by Saint Laurent. So aside from this shoot, they requested to book Sehun for their show in Paris. Make sure to put it on his schedule.”

Sehun couldn’t believe his ears, _Saint Laurent_ is booking him to walk in their show in Paris. This is a pretty huge milestone for him because he had always loved Saint Laurent’s men’s collection and had been dreaming of walking in one of the collections.

_And now I can. If we weren’t going to have a shoot, I would’ve cried right here, right now._

Chen looks equally stunned as he is, as he averts his gaze quickly to his tablet. Soojung smiles at Sehun and her hand come up to squeeze his shoulder, “You’re a great model, Sehun. This is only the start of your career, don’t let anything discourage you.”

“Thank you, Soojung, it’s an honor to be able to walk for Saint Laurent.”

“No need to thank me, it’s time for your talent to shine. Oh and Chen,” Chen looks up expectantly, somehow silent against his usual demeanor, “I have a list of designers that wants to book Sehun for Paris Fashion Week, I’ll give it to you later.”

Before Sehun can even muster a shocked gasp, Soojung nudges him to go into the set and get ready for the shoot. He can see the guitar props and a few speakers around him, but he doesn’t pay too much mind to it because his mind focuses elsewhere.

_A list of designers wanting to book me? Is this finally a blessing of a shower of rain in my drought? I hope this isn’t a dream because it’s Men's Fashion Week in Paris. It’s in Paris._

He needs to give his all for this shoot so he can assure Saint Laurent that he meets to their expectation. Sehun plans to play the guitar, and he aims to show his best fierce and boyish expression ever.

The first session goes well, and he’s satisfied that he earns a praise from the photographer that he's bringing out the youthful grunge look into a different light, and it's great. Chen offers him a cup of coffee, and he claps at him, grinning, “You were on fire, Sehun, holy shit.”

“Was I? I didn’t realize that. I just wanted to give my best.”

“You certainly did. That news about Saint Laurent indeed turned on your driving force, I’m glad.”

In the far end of the room, Soojung ushers Jongin to the side, earning a questioning look from him, “What do you think about Sehun? I told you, he’s good and with the right guidance, he can be a top model.”

“He did better than the Rayban shoot.”

“Come on, Jongin, warm up a bit. You’re too hard on him. He’s only starting to grow.”

“If he wants to be a top model, he has to go through a rough journey.”

“His journey is rough enough right now because of you, don’t make it any harder for him. It’s good that all my proposals to the designers are accepted.”

“See? He’s only getting to the fashion week with the help of your hand.”

Soojung shakes her head. She’s by far, already used to how close minded Jongin is and the only way she can get back is if she’s hard to him as well. Even though by now, Jongin is like family to her, he's always too wrapped up in his head, and she’s always there to shake Jongin off of it. 

Out of the blue, Soojung smacks the back of Jongin’s head, something that only Soojung can do to him without earning an outburst. 

Jongin lets out a surprised yelp, wincing at the throbbing pain, “What’s that for?”

“Designers won’t agree on booking a model if they think the model doesn’t have enough charisma to bring out their collection’s theme or if they can’t see enough potential that can live up to their expectations and the public’s as well.”

Jongin stares at her silently, like a kid finally realizing their mistake and is now facing a well-deserved lecture. Soojung continues, glaring at Jongin right in the eye. 

“I know you’re especially harsh on him because you notice his potential and you can see yourself in him. If you want him to be like how you expect him to be, then help him instead of putting him down. Get out of your goddamn ego and for once, help someone who you think is finally worth your praise.”

He looks down at his feet as he notices Soojung turning on his heels and goes back to the set. She motions for everyone to get back from the break and continue the shoot, and Jongin doesn’t miss the encouraging pat she gives to Sehun.

It’s always Soojung who can make him feel sorry for what he had done, and now she’s doing it again. 

What makes it even worse, his mind flashes a reminder that he had written another harsh commentary about Sehun. He silently hopes neither his manager nor Sehun will know about the article since Sehun’s name wasn’t on the headline.

But there lies Jongin’s flaw where he forgets that other people has connections and are as detailed as he is. An article by him always travels fast word by word and soon the word will go through Sehun.

After the shoot finishes, Sehun walks around the set, thanking the staffs and the photographer who once again, praised him for portraying a fierce grungy look and bringing out Saint Laurent's theme to its finest. The photographer smiles sincerely and shakes his hand as he looks forward to working with Sehun again.

Soojung comes up to him then, grinning at him and it blinds him momentarily, “As I expected, you live up to your charisma and exert that on your poses. I’m glad I chose you.”

“Thank you, Soojung, it’s an honor to have a sponsored shoot from a brand I love so much. And thank you also for getting me into Paris Fashion Week.”

“You’re welcome, Sehun, it’s a pleasure. You continue to surprise me, and I’ll look forward to working with you again, maybe soon.”

She walks away after giving Sehun a hug, and Sehun rushes into the dressing room, can’t wait to dress back in his usual clothes and tell Junmyeon about the news in person. 

He’ll either have Junmyeon hugging him so tight he couldn’t breathe or Junmyeon walking outside to the balcony and screaming about him, and both ideas sound equally embarrassing. But then it is Junmyeon, and his trait is his awkward personality.

The first thing he sees when he steps into the dressing room is Chen walking back and forth across the dressing room, talking with who he assumes is the designer’s managers. 

He can finally discern that Chen is persuading the person across the phone and Sehun is puzzled at why his manager needs to persuade him into the show when the designer is the one who wants to book him.

Chen gets off the phone call with a heavy sigh, and Sehun doesn’t know if that’s a sigh of relief or a sigh of disapproval. There’s uncertainty in Chen’s eyes when Sehun looks at him questioningly, and suddenly there's a troubled feeling building inside him.

“What’s with that look, Chen? What happened?”

“That was Kenzo. They nearly bailed on booking you, but I managed to convince them. I'm not sure you want to know why.”

“Why did they bailed? Do they have no space left for another model for their walk?”

“No, they have spare spots for a few more models, and they intentionally left one for you until they come up with something.”

“Something?” Chen has a nervous look sent to him, and Sehun’s curiosity is gnawing rapidly in every ticking of the clock, “Lord, what did they come up to, Chen?”

“Look through the email I sent to you a moment ago. Jongin wrote another article about you, but it doesn’t have your name on the headline. That’s why it didn’t get to us faster than they did.”

“What the fuck?” Sehun blurts, his eyes bulging in disbelief because _how fucking dare he write another negative article about me? Does he want to bury my career into the deepest parts of hell?_

He takes out his phone from the duffel bag he always brings to photo shoots and unlocks it. There’s indeed an unread email in his inbox, and he opens the link inside the email. 

He sees the headline, **“A Miss of Models In This Year’s Spring/Fall Season,”** and he scrolls it down and there lies his name with a photo of him in the Alexander McQueen show attached to it.

As per usual, he skims through it and finds words and phrases such as _“trademark to cringe at,” “his walk causes your heart to palpitate for how terrible it is.”_

Chen walks to him in a hassle and grips his forearm when one of Sehun's fist smacks on the table, sending the things on it rattling unstable. He tries holding Sehun back from ever stepping out of the dressing room because he knows where Sehun will go.

“Don’t, Sehun, please don’t cause a trouble. I worked it out fine, and there’s nothing more to worry about.”

“There’s nothing to worry about now, but what if in the coming months, Chen? What if I have to face brands turning me down again, and no booked photo shoots?”

Chen dawns the realization, and there’s another worried look on his face, “What will you do if I were to let you go?”

“For your sake, I won’t punch him. I’ll ask him about it, but I don’t promise sweet words.”

He can see the regret in Chen’s face but he lets go his arm anyways, and Sehun brushes past him out of the dressing room. Sehun doesn’t quite know the place they’re in, but he knows exactly where a journalist would be if they’re in a photoshoot set.


	2. Two

Sehun walks past different rooms and finally finds the door to the room he’s been looking. There’s a sign **“director’s”** taped onto the door, and without a second of hesitance, he storms inside to meet who he expected, Jongin, alone with his notebook.

He very well knows that head directors usually go home right after the shoot, so he’s not surprised he doesn’t see Soojung around. Jongin looks up and stares at him lazily, one of his eyebrows arching in a puzzled manner.

Sehun wants to punch him with that element of surprise, but he knows what’s best to do first before even giving Jongin a punch. He slams his hand on the table, not too hard that he hurts his palm but enough to make Jongin look at him seriously.

“Cut the smug face. You know why I’m here.”

“No, I don’t understand why you’re here. Care to elaborate?” 

There’s a knowing glint in his eyes, and Sehun knows he’s only teasing. His anger somewhat stirs when he sees Jongin right in front of him. Jongin’s face isn’t even helping. It looks so inviting for his fist to land on it. 

He breathes in and out, trying to calm down and he grips his forearm in an attempt to hold himself.

“You fucking wrote another negative article, but only this time, you tried being discreet and including me in the list of your **“worst models of the season”** article.”

“That I completely forgot I had you in there. I guess you’re not relevant enough.”

Sehun rolls his eyes in annoyance, this kind of reaction is no longer surprising to him.

“Sorry not sorry but I didn’t know you exist until I met you.” 

_Partially a lie but I’ll thank my lies later on._

“Which speaks volumes how I was none existent but when I am, your career is crumbling.” 

“It’s a struggle, but it’s not crumbling, which also shows how your half-assed conclusions speak a lot about how big your ego is, probably bigger than your dick.”

“My conclusions aren’t half-assed, they’re facts. What I have underneath my briefs is none of your concern.”

_Oh, this is interesting…_

“Sadly those conclusions aren’t up to par when it comes to criticizing me. Strong enough proof that the base of your conclusions for me is your egotistic personality.” 

The color washes out of Jongin’s face, and Sehun smirks victoriously because no, he’s not going to lose to the journalist. Jongin needs to get a taste of his own medicine.

Sehun continues, “It’s a pity my career is currently a struggle, but it’s more pitiful that there’s much more room left in your pants than your pride.”

He sees Jongin looking down, probably to his pants and precisely his crotch area. There’s a mix of a surprise and regret look in Jongin’s face, and it’s such a new sight to see Jongin uncomfortable in his own space.

“Having enough or do you want me to go on about how your dick is small? Because I still have lots I can come up with.”

“Okay, fine, what do you want?” 

Sehun sits on the empty chair across Jongin, who’s looking at him expectantly, almost impatiently even. Sehun folds his arms on the table, accentuating his anger but also, keeping his professionalism, even though what just happened had crossed it.

“I almost wanted to punch you right when I got into the room. Be glad I spared you because trust me, it won’t be pretty.”

_Way to go, Sehun, you just tossed out your professionalism._

“You’re surprisingly tough for a model.”

“Excuse me, but models aren’t weak and me in particular, I’m strong to even start with so don’t fucking mess with me. I won’t hesitate to throw a few punches.”

Jongin scoffs, his rolling eyes hiding behind black-rimmed glasses, “You’re not a worry to me, I’m strong enough to dodge and punch you back.”

“Well if we were to get into a showdown, I would’ve punched you a moment ago. But no, I’m not here for that. I’m here about your articles, why are you so damn hateful about me?”

Jongin leans forward on the table, his eyes are piercing again, and Sehun tries to reciprocate but he can suddenly feel the depth of Jongin’s gaze, and he’s not sure if he wants to delve in or avoid it. 

The tension in the room arises—like how it always does when they’re together—, it seems like the cramped room plays a part to the tension. Jongin stays silent, eyes trained on Sehun and the latter looks back at him equally as intense.

After a few quiet moments, Jongin cuts the tension with a simple scoff, almost a dismiss, “I’ve always been blunt, how come you’ve only begun to notice that now?”

“I noticed, and I knew but I’m an observant person by nature, and you’re especially harsher on me. Don’t think I’m stupid enough to not realize the different writing style you use when you criticize me.”

Jongin’s voice raises, and he tilts up his chin challengingly, “Well how’s my writing style compared to any other article I wrote?”

“The articles you wrote about me are brief and straightforward while other articles of yours are long and well-explained.”

Jongin quirks his eyebrows at the mention of this, and Sehun mentally thanked himself that he looked through and compared Jongin’s article because _hell yeah, if you wanna argue with me, then let’s do it._

“The words you used on me is also plain harsh without too much of your careful elaboration. You’re always so good in elaborating and reasoning why you’re giving a negative comment, but as I said, to me, you left out a lot. Pretty reckless, ain’t it?”

There’s a smirk on Sehun’s lips when he sees a flash of Jongin’s cool composure shaken. He knows the journalist is smart enough to notice how different he wrote and that glimpse of Jongin’s insecurity confirms what he suspected.

“Everyone sees your articles with one eye because it’s Kim Jongin’s article, but it takes two eyes to notice how different you wrote and don’t be so naive that you think you’re the only one who has that.”

“Listen—,” and for the first time in these past months, he heard how weak Jongin’s voice is, even bordering on terrified.

“No, you listen,” Sehun takes a deep breath for what he’ll say next is a mouthful. 

“Modeling had grown as my passion. I don’t see it as just merely a job, I see it as a branch where I can express myself the most. I may not be a model since I was a kid like you did but I dedicated and put everything to the fashion industry these past solid five, almost six years even.”

Sehun had to stop midway to gulp in air as he starts running out of breath, “Sure, you can say my popularity helped a lot but that doesn’t give me that much of a leap, and I’m here right now because of my own work and effort.”

Jongin stays silent, his notebook is left neglected on the table, and he has his full attention on Sehun, somewhat making the brown haired boy slightly unsettled. Sehun has to shift his gaze somewhere else a few times to avoid being nervous.

“I’m fine with any negative comments but yours, in particular, is slowly ruining my career in the long run even though I’m sure you intentionally did that. The fire inside me is untamed but fires can flicker, and it does whenever I’m turned down, knowing that it’s only because of a paragraph or more of your words. I’m only asking that you stop writing about me in the next few months.”

Sehun breathes a sigh of relief after he lets it out to the pink-haired boy across him, he’s thankful that his mouth kept up with his mind. For the first time ever, he’s glad he decided to put aside his pride to ask a favor from a journalist because at least he tried to do something more. 

Humming as his arms are crossing in front of his chest, Jongin remains silent in his seat. Not sure if Jongin even acknowledges what he said or if it was just a blow of air through his ears, but Sehun starts growing impatient as his feet keeps tapping on the floor. 

It’s even hard to read Jongin’s expression since he barely gives anything away, and Sehun had to salute on that. The silence in the air is slowly turning into an awkward atmosphere as he waits for a respond. 

After waiting for what Sehun deems as too long, he pushes back his chair, grunting as he turns his heels away, “You know what, forget what I just told you. I knew it would be useless to even come to you.”

Intentionally, Sehun slows down his pace to the door that maybe Jongin would then react but there’s still not even a hint of a response, so he stomps out of the door, a frown permanent on his lips. Just as he closes the door behind him, he crashes to someone’s front and almost caused both of them to fall if not for his reflex and his arm.

“Hey, are you okay?” It’s his manager that he crashed into and Sehun looks at him perplexed at the sight of his flustered manager.

“What are you doing in front of the door, Chen? Were you eavesdropping?”

“I wasn’t,” Sehun gives him a stern gaze, and Chen’s lips grows into a sheepish smile, “I did, I was worried! You were there for a long time, and I even finished putting your things in the car.”

“Well it turned out crap since he doesn’t say anything in return,” and there’s a terrified look on Chen’s face before he can explain himself, “I didn’t punch him. I talked with him, but he didn’t say anything. That’s why I stormed out. He’s an asshole, and I can’t change that.”

Chen sighs, earlier he had a glimmer of hope that maybe Sehun can reason with Jongin, but he guesses his hopes were too high. “Let’s go home, you haven’t told your brother about Paris yet. He’ll be so proud that he’ll probably do something embarrassing again.”

Sehun laughs like he always does whenever Chen teases his brother, and it’s so relieving to laugh again after the intense conversation. It felt like his emotions switched off in the room with Jongin, and he’s only left with his furious anger. 

Before they could even take two steps out of the front door, he hears a door clicking open hurriedly behind him. He looks back and there he sees Jongin, wide-eyed, almost as if he was rushing to Sehun, but that must’ve been a delusion right?

“I’ll help you, Oh Sehun.”

Sehun pauses momentarily to process what Jongin said. His ears must’ve deceived him, but the look on Jongin’s face proves him otherwise. He stares at Jongin in disbelief, a frown evident in the crease of his eyebrows. 

He steals a glance at Chen, and the boy had never looked so surprised in his life, it resembles of him seeing his favorite pop star in the whole wide world. Even his eyes are sparkling as he stares at Jongin as well. 

“What are you saying? If you want to help, do as I said earlier, and it’ll give me a helping hand already.”

“I’ll be your modeling mentor.”

Completely boggled at Jongin’s sudden very generous offer, Sehun stays to his stance, looking completely baffled. Pressing on the word ‘very’ because we’re talking about Jongin, the said iconic model who became a journalist.

_Kim Jongin offering to be my mentor, had the world gone to an end already or is he playing tricks on me?_

“But I’m not asking you to be my mentor, and I don’t need that?” Sehun is surprised to find himself stuttering in his own words. He couldn’t even hear Chen’s usual chattering, probably still equally as shocked as he is.

“You say you don’t need it, but you do. You don’t know how many journalists out there who are underestimating you, and I happen to be the most daring.”

Chen probes on his elbow, motioning for him to accept the offer but Sehun needs a moment to contemplate whether he wants to put up with the asshole for his better good or not. He can see there’s a lot of pros in the future, but he can’t help his growing suspicion.

He squints his eyes judgingly at the journalist, “What’s in it for you? Why the sudden generosity when a moment ago, you were a prick?”

“Your ambition is strong, and it’s compelling to me,” Jongin quirks his eyebrows, pondering if he should say the next thing he’ll say, “And no one ever threatened to punch me. Heck, no one even tried talking back to me. I appreciate you for doing that, it shows you have integrity and responsibility with your career.”

Sehun looks at Jongin in wonderment, very sure that his ears are, once again, deceiving him. Jongin and compliments are like air, it exists, but you just can’t hear or see it, but now, he just heard it loud and clear and it’s echoing in his mind.

He looks to his manager, and Chen had his mouth slightly gaping before he sucks in a breath sharply, maybe forgetting to breathe for a second there. Never in Chen’s life in the fashion industry would he ever witness Jongin complimenting a model verbally and Sehun had been the one to receive that honor.

Snapping out of the short-lived compliment, Sehun smirks at Jongin, who had regained his usual cold composure, “If it weren’t for my manager, I would’ve barged in and punched you without leaving you with any chance to retaliate.”

“As long as you don’t punch this pretty face,” Jongin’s lips form into a playful smile.

_Jongin just smiled. Did he? He definitely did, and it’s surprisingly cute??_

“Wow, I never took you for a narcissist. Against your usual quiet demeanor, the famous Kim Jongin turns out to be a closet narcissist.”

And he chuckles. He just _chuckled._

“You’ll find me very surprising, Oh Sehun,” and why is the mention of his name from Jongin’s lips had him stopped breathing for a moment? “I’m a close person, it will be new to you everytime you get to know me more—.”

The person next to Sehun coughs before he bites his lips, suppressing a smile, “Should I stay or do you want me to leave both of you alone?”

Jongin chimes in before Sehun can even elbow his manager, “Stay, I’ll need to give you my number and email. Sehun will also have my number.”

Chen walks towards Jongin, taking out his tablet from its case and Sehun doesn’t miss him giving a side eye and teasing smirk. He shrugs it off as he takes out his phone from his pocket, checking any notifications, not realizing Jongin’s short glance.

Sehun ends up exchanging his phone number with Jongin too after the journalist demands so, just in case for anything “personal” and Sehun scoffs. That’s definitely Jongin’s lame excuse to save his number, but then Sehun isn’t sure if he’s cringing at Jongin’s excuse or if he’s giddy that he has Jongin’s phone number.

“Just before you leave, I’ll also have Sehun attending a couple of events with me from independent and new designers. I’ll update you when and where Chen.”

Sehun gives Chen a side eye, and his manager is not even hiding his smile anymore, as he types in a reminder in the tablet. Sehun questions Jongin’s intention of having him attend an event with Jongin himself. It’s the famous journalist of this century, and he just disregarded Sehun in his articles, but he’ll be going to an event with him?

“Are you sure you want me to come with you?”

“I’ll need you to see the significance between independent designers and high-end brand designers. It’ll broaden your knowledge, and I take that you’ve never attended in any of them, no?”

Looks like Sehun will be expecting tons of questioning glares when he walks into an event with the journalist by his side. Sehun shakes his head, chuckling, _it will definitely be the beginning of a parade of spectacles awaiting for us._

 

 

The crowding people into the gates of the main entrance of the boutique hotel are desperately trying to get their seat numbers on the guest table. Just as they both step out of the car, there are cameras snapping photos of them, almost squeezing them in.

Sehun’s intuition is to hide behind Jongin’s back because the blitz are blinding his eyes and he can hardly see the pathway leading to the entrance. The security around are shielding them, but it comes useless because of the camera flashes.

Just as he worries his feet might trip to Jongin’s, an arm grips onto his forearm and he simply thinks it must’ve been Jongin’s arm. He silently thanks the well-dressed journalist for leading the way and he could only grip onto the sleeves of Jongin’s suit.

Sehun feels like he’s out of place without having Chen around, he’s so accustomed to having his manager tailing behind him, but now it’s only him and Jongin. The crowded entrance starts dispersing and swarming around them as each of them wants to sneak a look towards whom the press are snapping.

Sehun hears a few girls shouting for his name, and he smiles and waves mindlessly, unbeknownst if he waved to their way or not with the blitz flashing right in his face. He pities his eyesight as they might’ve been affected by now with how many times he had to face camera flashes in almost every schedule.

He breathes a sigh of relief when they enter the main entrance, the press falling behind as they are ushered away by the security for hoarding the entrance. 

Jongin walks towards the guest table and the girl sitting with the guest list has a shocked expression when she looks up at the journalist. Shrugging it off, Jongin nods his head, giving out his invite as he motions about Sehun’s presence and the girl, who was stunned a second ago, starts stuttering in her words, “K-Kim Jongin a-a-and Oh Sehun.”

She hurriedly searches for a sticker with a seat number from the front rows, taping two numbers to Jongin’s invitation. While she’s at it, she hands them both a catalog before she calls one of her colleagues to escort them to their seat.

They follow behind a guy, he has an earpiece in his right ear and a mic pinned to the collars of his navy shirt. As they’re a few steps away, Sehun subtly hears the girl on the table muttering in a panicked voice, probably to her own mic as she had one as well, “Alert: Code Pink!”

Sehun bursts out laughing before he could stop himself, and Jongin gives him a questioning gaze as one of his arms pulls Sehun closer to him, avoiding Sehun to fall back behind. His laughter continues on that he failed to notice the glances they’re both getting.

He had come to care less about those glances. Sehun knows they’re just curious about how he got to attend an event with Jongin by his side and soon enough, a speculated rumor will flow around the air until it comes to Sehun’s own ear. He knew this is coming.

There’s a breath fanning over his ear, as Jongin whispers with his gaze following the guy, “Why are you laughing?”

Sehun takes a deep breath, a tear slips past his eyes, but his hand is quick enough to brush it off, “There’s a myth going around from the behind the scenes of new designers.”

“What myth?”

“That they have a warning code they pass around in the backstage and to the designer when you’re present in their show.”

There’s a surprise to Jongin’s face as it seems like the journalist doesn’t know how damning his criticizes are for the fate of newly established brands. For them to have a code name of Jongin, the journalist must be terrifying in their eyes that they have to be cautious of him.

“What about that? Is that why you were laughing?”

“Yes, because what I just heard turned the warning code from myth to a real thing.”

“You heard the code? How do you know it’s a code for me?”  
Sehun chuckles, shaking his head, “It’s so specific and why should I tell you when you might use it for your articles?”

Jongin’s lips form a sheepish smile as he walks ahead of him, carefully passing the already seated guests in the front row. It’s been a week after the incident of Jongin asking—Sehun honestly takes it as a proposing for his pleasure—to be Sehun’s mentor.

Up until now, Sehun isn’t used to a more expressive Jongin when he’s used to seeing Jongin’s cold face without a hint of emotion whatsoever. Jongin smiling or chuckling is still very new to him, it’s even a strange sight to him.

The guy shows them their seat and bows before he leaves to escort another guest. The place they’re given is surprisingly in the middle section, where you get both views of either the back that leads models in and out to the stage and also the front where the press are.

Sehun had never sat in the middle section as he’s usually seated further near the back or the front. He always had his manager with him, occasionally Junmyeon would tag along too but right now, he has a journalist with him, and a notorious one indeed. It shouldn’t surprise him that they get one of the best views in the show.

“What do you think of the props for the show?”

He glances to the source of the voice, and Jongin is looking up to the fake tree in the middle of the stage, the branch, and the leaves are painted white. It almost looks magical as it stands out from the rest of the stage that has white as their dominant color. 

Jongin’s notebook is neatly placed on top of his lap, with his pen underneath his fingertips. His eyes look back to Sehun’s, and it’s somewhat tender as if encouraging him to observe everything about the setting.

“I guess the tree stands out and it’s so well executed that it turns out magical and magnificent. But that’s also the drawback, people tend to focus more on the tree than the rest of the stage.”

Jongin has a satisfied smile as he starts writing down on his notebook, leaving Sehun terrified at the thought of Jongin writing what he said instead. 

“Are you writing what I said?”

“I did, and that’s because I agreed with you.”

Sehun pats his chest as he sighs in relief, he doesn’t want Jongin to criticize something based on his amateur opinion. Jongin might lose his credibility if he does and that’s his major key point of what makes him a great journalist.

As if reading Sehun’s mind, Jongin chuckles as he shakes his head, “Don’t worry. Even if I were to insert a few of your opinions in my article, I wouldn't put out your name. It’s called a confidentiality, and it’s between you and me.”

“But then, I’m lessening your voice. Your articles are your voice, it should be based on your thoughts and opinion. I’m in no right to stand against it, especially of how critical your voice is for others.”

“But you’re helping me, so I don’t have too much work to put up an article by myself.”

He snorts, “You really are such an asshole.”

“I'm a jerk by nature,” Jongin winks, sucking all the breath Sehun had inside his lungs. That is, again, the first time he had ever seen Jongin wink and he winked at him. 

_What did I ever do in my past life to get a wink from Jongin?_

Minutes passed by until Sehun’s mind thought process could function as accordingly again after a short error when he sees Jongin’s wink. He gives an awkward smile, his voice suddenly shaky after the momentary pause, “Here’s the deal. You only put in my opinions that you agreed on. If you’re not sure of it, don’t insert it.”

“Deal,” Jongin’s hand comes to pat Sehun’s hand, then he gives a soft squeeze, “As I said, I’m an asshole by nature, and you said, you’re an observant person by nature. So Oh Sehun, start observing.”

Sehun laughs at that command, as Jongin grins back at him. It’s so amusing to see Jongin’s playful side, and he had only started in getting to know Jongin, but he can already see himself liking the journalist, in any surprising ways possible.

The show starts soon after as the rows of seat are almost entirely occupied. The lights are slowly dimming before an MC walks to the middle of the stage, nearby the tree. He says his usual commemorations about the designer before introducing the designer to the stage.

The designer waves to the rounds of applause given to him, and he says about what inspires him to design the seasons’ collection. 

Moving onto the show itself, an orchestral piece is playing in the background before it transitions into a more upbeat tempo as the first model opens the show. Sehun steals a glance at a busy Jongin scribbling short notes, and Sehun finds him incredulous at how he can write so quickly.

After a few models walking past them, Sehun breaks his focus from the outfit a model is donning right in front of them when he feels someone poking on his elbow. He turns to his side to see Jongin nudging about the model, “What do you think about the outfit?”

“It’s a beautiful dress. The designer must be excellent in handling such flimsy materials because I hardly see any flaws.”

“The laces are also sewn in the right places without overshadowing the satin material, and I love the embroidered flower on her right chest. It is beautiful.”

Jongin gives Sehun a small smile with his head tilting before the pen under his hand starts moving again across the page relentlessly. Sehun returns his smile even when Jongin turns his focus back to the notebook on his lap.

Sehun finds himself paying attention to the outfit Jongin chose to wear for the show. The brunette always looks forward to Jongin’s outfit because even though he’s a journalist, he never fails to be a show stopper with his formal but stylish attire.

A velvet burgundy suit is hanging on Jongin’s broad shoulders as the tie is a matching burgundy colored, standing out from his casual white shirt. He’s wearing another suit, gray colored matching with his dress pants, underneath his velvet suit.

His navy dress boots complete the look, and Sehun’s gaze trails up to Jongin’s features. The burgundy suit definitely compliments his messily styled pink hair, or at least what Jongin says as a messy hairstyle. His black rimmed glasses is continuously present, and now it’s slowly sliding on the bridge of his nose.

He slides it up swiftly before writing down again, and Sehun sees the corner of his lips quirking into a smirk. Sehun is suddenly alert at the prominent smirk, worst case scenario is Jongin might’ve realized his creepy stare.

“I know I’m so good-looking, but aren’t you staring too much?”

Sehun had never looked away so quick in his life than at that moment, his lips blurting in response, “I wasn’t staring at you!”

“Sure, you were looking at the fake tree. The only problem is, the fake tree is in front of us,  Sehun, not by your side.”

If he could dig a grave right now, he would definitely do it and wallow in self-pity at getting caught red-handed for staring at Jongin, by Jongin himself. What’s even more outrageous is he still has to spend the next hour and a half with Jongin.

His cheeks are probably in a dark red shade as he can feel the heat creeping up around it. Sehun faces away from Jongin, who’s trying his best hiding his growing smile. He’s sighing into his own reverie until a deep chuckle shatters it, and Sehun turns his focus back at Jongin.

On his lap, the notebook Jongin was busy writing on is closed from its pages with his pen clinging onto the loopholes of it. Sehun’s eyes trail upwards as it briefly admires the wristwatch Jongin had on his right hand. He’s met with another pair of brown eyes when he looks up to his face, and it’s smiling.

Jongin is still chuckling, but his eyes focus on Sehun, and for the first time ever since he met Jongin, he feels something other than hatred, but he’s not completely sure if it’s a good sign. It’s as if he’s staring down from a ledge, terrifying but exciting at the same time.

He snaps back from his daze when Jongin is no longer staring at him and is now shaking his head, the soft strands of his pink hair moving along. He clicks his tongue, almost as if he’s teasing. Unexpectedly, his next words caught Sehun off-guard followed with another rising heat in his cheeks.

“Oh Sehun, Oh Sehun, Oh Sehun. What am I going to do with you?”

 

 

They pull up to a sleek gray building, and it’s eerily quiet as the only spot occupied in the field is a black BMW car in the furthest corner. Looking if someone else shares the mutual feeling as he does, Sehun looks to his manager, but Chen disregards him as he stares intently to his tablet.

Then he looks at Junmyeon, and he’s glad his older brother shares the confusion as he has. Junmyeon shifts his gaze to anyone who’s looking at him, and he meets with Sehun’s, the latter giving him a shrug of his shoulders.

The minivan pulls up right by the front entrance, Junmyeon and Chen opens the door to their side simultaneously, and Sehun follows behind. The moment Sehun steps onto the dirt, he can feel the heat seeping through his skin, and his hand flies up to fan himself.

Expecting a sunny day outside, Sehun had matched the outfit he’ll wear but even with a sleeveless shirt paired with Valentino glasses, standing under the scorching sun is still too much for him. He gives the empty field a final look before he steps inside, finally in a shelter away from the sun.

The interior is surprisingly decorated in a simple way with a few unique features such as hanging three-dimensional hexagon bowls with a plant inside. He walks another few steps and sees a black and white photo of Andy Warhol with his art as the background framed on the wall, and framed photos of Andy Warhol’s artworks.

In the other end, Jongin comes out of another section of a hallway, and he smiles. To this point from encountering a smiling Jongin, he admits he’s still not used to it. Chen walks ahead of them as he shakes Jongin’s welcoming hand, a grin on his lips.

Jongin shifts his gaze to Sehun, and the latter smiled at him kindly, before shaking his welcoming hands as well. When Jongin faces Junmyeon, there’s a subtle scowl on the shorter’s lips, and Sehun had to nudge his arms for him to dismiss the scowl.

There’s a sheepish smile from Jongin, as he bows to Junmyeon politely, “This must be the brother.”

Junmyeon snaps, sending Sehun in bewilderment at his usually kind brother, “The ‘Protective’ older brother of Oh Sehun.”

“I can tell from the younger sibling. You know, he looks up to you so much, you’re such an inspiration and motivation for him.”

Junmyeon pauses for awhile, and a look of amusement and pride is evident in his face as Sehun tries to hold his laughter. Sehun knows for sure that he hasn’t told anything Jongin said and the journalist probably just made it up to impress Junmyeon.

For someone who made something up so quick, Sehun is impressed at how Jongin sounds so convincing and sure. 

“That still doesn’t get you out of my black list, Kim Jongin. Mark my words,” Junmyeon’s voice is dangerously low, pointing an accusing finger at Jongin’s face.

As a response, Jongin smiles a little before Junmyeon brushes past him, intentionally crashing into Jongin’s side. The pink haired boy looks at Sehun for consolation and the latter laughs at him, apparently amused at how his brother treats Jongin. 

They finally walk to where Jongin promises to help Sehun practice his walk. Junmyeon momentarily acts snobby and know-it-all until it shatters quickly when he turns to the wrong hallway, and Sehun calls him out amidst his raucous laughter.

From the whole encounter of Junmyeon trying to act as an upper class than Jongin, Chen silently wishes he has a popcorn with him so he can pop some in his mouth as it’s so worth watching.

Eventually, Jongin leads the way into one of the largest section of the building. As Sehun enters into a massive rusty wooden door, what he sees ahead of him leaves him speechless, and he gasps, staring at it in amazement.

In front of them, is a runway platform from a sturdy glass material weighing down on thick metals. A black and white squared tiles covered the floors of the space, and many light bulbs are hanging in the air.

The space itself is grand, from where Sehun is to the other end and from the floor to the ceiling. In fact, the volume of the space is so vast and spacious, it’s suitable to hold an extravagant fashion show. 

Sehun stares the space in awe, seeing the decorations on the edges of the platform with an adequate amount of lush green plants.

Chen has a smile of appreciation and adoration at what he’s seeing, the curve in the corner of his lips prominent. He secretly knows that a fashion show had taken place in the space before. He had remembered it so differently now that he sees the space without any additional decorations.

Unbeknownst to the three gaping men, a proud look settles in on Jongin’s face as he, once again, impressed more people with the runway platform that he basically grows up with as a model.

“Enough ogling or do you want me to leave you with more time?”

All three of them snap at their amazement and turn their head to Jongin simultaneously that Jongin almost cackled at the sight. He grins, as his hands clap excitedly and it renders Sehun in another round of surprise because _I swear, that was the first time I had ever seen Jongin grinning._

Busy with his thoughts about Jongin’s—beautiful—grin, next to him, Junmyeon schools back his smug façade once again after he was caught off guard by how grandeur the space and the platform is. A smile is still present from Chen, but it turns into an embarrassed one when previously, it was pure amazement.

Jongin’s grin stays along the whole time he shows them around and eventually, he lets Chen and Junmyeon sit on the sofa by the side of the platform. Sehun is ushered on the end of the stage with Jongin supervising near him by the side of the platform. 

“Okay, Sehun, show me how you walk,” and Sehun proceeds to do so.

He imagines that he’s actually walking in a show to bring out his confidence because that’s how he usually visualizes himself in rehearsals. Sehun tilts his chin up a bit as he makes sure he doesn’t slouch in his posture.

Pulling up all the courage to give a good first impression of his walk to Jongin, his feet finally takes the first step as he starts walking along the platform swiftly. Overcoming the nervous feeling he had a moment ago, he lets go and enjoys the sensation of walking on the runway.

No matter the countless of times he had walked, walking on the runway had always been special to him. It creates a sense of empowerment inside of him to be able to walk in front of the crowd who are both expectant and judging but at the same time, inspired to design or to aspire to be a model. Everything else around him fades away as he's left alone with the runway beneath him.

He stops on his heels when he reaches the far end, posing for a while before turning his heels, walking back to where Jongin is standing. The instinct he has is telling him that he did fine and he hopes those weren’t an attempt to comfort himself from a terrible walk.

Jongin has that judging look once again on his face when Sehun turns to him, silently demanding a response or comment on his walk. Humming as he nodded his head, there’s no expression in Jongin’s face and Sehun trembles in his straight posture.

_Oh boy, it must’ve been that terrible for him to stay silent again. What a great impression, Oh Sehun._

“You did okay, but I’ve seen worst. There will be lots of things to learn in your platter,” Jongin’s voice speaks of authority, and it resonates throughout the large space.

Relieved, Sehun finally breathes again after he holds it unintentionally when he awaits for Jongin’s comment. He steals a glance at Junmyeon, just in case his older brother is sporting another scowl but turns out, it escalated into Junmyeon’s bloodshot eyes staring at Jongin intently.

He cracks in a laughter at Junmyeon. That was definitely Junmyeon’s attempt on a piercing gaze that kills but for Sehun, it’s more of a trying-too-hard piercing gaze. 

He receives a questioning look from Jongin but he dismissed it with a wave of his hand. The journalist is probably confused why he laughs everytime they meet.

But laughter is contagious, it’s joyous and free spirited. Sehun loves laughing, it’s his way of releasing tension and relaxing in another way. He hopes one day he can hear Jongin’s laugh, not a chuckle, not a giggle but a boisterous, raucous laughter coming from the journalist.

He spends the next hours practicing his walk with Jongin and occasionally, Jongin would stop him halfway when he thinks Sehun had started going stiff and tense again. He didn’t even realize this whole time that his shoulders had been visibly tense whenever he walked.

After a few long hours, Junmyeon and Chen suddenly interrupt them with a question, “Do you have a place where we can lounge in or watch TV?”

Junmyeon smiles shamelessly to both Sehun and Jongin, no longer holding onto his rude façade. He earns a suppressed smile from Sehun because the younger knows that Junmyeon never holds a fake image for too long. Winking as he smiles at Sehun teasingly, Chen had been the one who puts up the courage to ask Jongin.

There’s a moment of silence as Jongin weighs on which is best for them to lounge in and his mind pinpoints to his private quarter. With a snap of his finger, Jongin gives them a simple direction towards it, hoping that it’s clear enough that they won’t get lost.

The nine-year-old side of Chen unveils as he points two fingers at Jongin, his trait of ‘thanking someone for being awesome’ as he said before.

“That’s nice of you to let them in your private quarter,” Sehun admits after Junmyeon and Chen leave the space.

His shoulder shrugs casually, “I almost told them to go to another place in mind, but I’ll just let them stay there.”

“Jongin,” Sehun’s voice trails hesitantly as his self-alert blinks at the possibility that Jongin might’ve pulled a prank on them, “What’s your agenda on them?”

The pink haired boy’s eyes shot to him in disbelief, “Nothing! The other place I almost told them is a secret. It’s precious to me, and I don’t share it with anyone.”

A brilliant idea pops into his head when Sehun’s playful side emerges. Teasing him on a dirty remark seems most suitable in particular with the word ‘private quarter,’ and he hopes he catches the journalist surprised.

“A secret? Is it your ‘playroom’?”

Expecting a choked gasp, what Sehun gets in return is a wicked glint in Jongin’s eyes and a smirk on his thick lips, “So you’re into BDSM kinks, aren’t you, Sehun?”

And Sehun is the one suffering from a choked gasp because his plan just backfired _on him_. Seeing how it went down, Jongin shakes his head in amusement at Sehun’s misery and his hand itches to rub on Sehun’s back, but he presses it down.

“No, it’s not a playroom. I can’t possibly have a playroom in the rooftop, and that’s the only thing I’ll say about it.”

“That wasn’t the kind of reaction I was expecting, your clap back is too strong,” Sehun whines as he walks to his bag, aiming to get a gulp from his water bottle.

Jongin erupts in a loud cackle, and it echoes across the vast space and into Sehun’s ears. Somewhat startled by how carefree Jongin’s laugh sounds, his body stops functioning as his ears tune out everything else except the journalist’s laugh. 

When he had only started appreciating it, Jongin halts his laughter, hands resting on his stomach as his gaze lays on Sehun’s more relaxed figure, finally drinking from the water bottle in his previously frozen hand. 

The relief Jongin feels after that short burst of laughter is undeniable, and it seemed like ages since he laughed at something so simple.

_Sehun really is something…_

“Come on, Sehun, let’s continue on your poses on the walk.”

The said boy turns around with his cheeks puffing and his lips pursing, holding onto the water he drank before he gulps it in. Almost stumbling when he jumps onto the platform, Sehun runs back with a cheery smile, clapping his hands, “On your command, mentor.”

He hears the journalist snorting, “From the beginning, stiff.”

Walking back to where he stood before, Sehun mumbles under his breath at the nickname he’s given, “Asshole.”

“I heard that!” Jongin’s voice almost in a sassy manner but he smiles mischievously at the same time. Returning the smile, Sehun’s feet struts down onto the runway once again, for much more to come that day.

 

 

It’s the 21st century, and society always judges you. Sehun had come to recognize that, and the feeling of being cornered by judging glares had become familiar, but it’s somewhat still so irking for him especially when he’s walking with Jongin by his side.

They’re attending another one of those newly established independent brands that invited Jongin but knowing how Jongin is so thick-headed, he insists on Sehun to come with him, _again._

So, there they are, sitting in the front row again with Jongin sitting politely next to him, his notebook squeezed underneath his folded legs.

A blitz suddenly flashes in front of them, startling Sehun and he looks around to see two or three press standing across them, their cameras trained on Jongin and him. Jongin looks up from his phone, noticing the flash as well and he gives a small smile before the press starts shouting, “Sehun, pose with Jongin please!”

There’s a hand on the small of Sehun’s back, and he knows that it’s Jongin’s, since the journalist is closing the space between them for the cameras. Sehun gives a big smile, sitting up straight, and Jongin adjusts his sitting to Sehun’s direction, a small smile on his lips.

A few moments passes by accompanied by lots of camera flashes as a few more press comes up to steal a chance for a few shots of them both. They stop posing when the flashes get lesser, and Sehun breathes a sigh, his eyes squinting as the flashes burn his eyes.

Jongin notices the discomfort those flashes gave to Sehun, he starts rubbing his back soothingly, feeling the latter’s back tense at his hand. Jongin sighs knowingly, “Those camera flashes get tiring, I know. It gets worse if you’re with me, everyone says so if they’re in my company.”

“The camera flashes around me alone is blinding enough. Your company won’t change a thing, it stays the same.”

The hand on Sehun’s back isn’t stopping with the soothing rub, as Jongin offers a small smile, “Hey, at least we have something in common, even though it sucks.”

“It definitely sucks. Why can’t we be in common of something else?”

“I don’t know,” Jongin shrugs his shoulders, pulling back his hand and Sehun misses the warmth for a beat, “You tell me.”

“Well, we mutually hated each other when we first met, so that’s something else.”

“Who ever said that I hated you?” The confusion is audible in his voice, as his questioning eyes lays on Sehun. Jongin’s fingers are fidgeting under the long sleeves of his floral jacket, and it doesn’t come unnoticed.

“You give the impression that you hated me, what caused you to write a negative article about me in the first place?” When he receives another moment of silence and a regretful look from the journalist, he scoffs, “Point proven.”

The hanging lights in the venue start dimming just as Sehun stopped talking, and he adjusts his position, trying to find the most comfortable in his seat. A bright spotlight turns on, everyone’s gazes follows the spotlight as it focuses on the MC.

From the side of Sehun’s eyes, he faintly sees Jongin taking his notebook out of his folded legs followed by the sound of a clicking pen. When he thought that Jongin’s focus is trained on the designer, who’s giving her short speech, he can feel the pink haired boy leaning close.

A breath fans over his ears as he shivers at their close proximity, “You’re right that I give the impression that I hated you but you’re wrong to think I wrote bad things about you because I hated you. I would never write something out of hate, it’s baseless, and I would never stoop that low. It’s more of a terrified feeling where it dawned on me that I can see myself giving you compliments in the future because you’re deserving. You had the potential from when I met you.”

And suddenly Sehun is eternally grateful for the dim lighting because he swore, surprised is an understatement. Mixed emotions jumble up inside of him, and he couldn’t discern each, but one thing is for sure, and that is the heat creeping up his cheeks.

 

 

As Sehun said before, there will be a round of spectacles when he first attended an event with Jongin. It doesn’t come off as a surprise when one day in Sehun’s walk practice, Chen comes sprinting to him about an article of him and Jongin.

The said guy next to him only quirks his eyebrows in slight interest, but Sehun knows Jongin couldn’t care less of whatever the article says about them. Sehun, the curious boy he is, demands Chen to give a brief summary of it.

“Basically, the article is questioning how the journalist that put you down is now in your company. Also, they made up possible explanations, whether both of you are collaborating, or partnered up for a project. The most baseless theory is the both of you are dating, or in another word used in the rumors behind the scene, fucking.”

“I kind of expected the last bit. That’s the most cliché assumption that the media and anyone can make.”

“You know the media, always curious and digging through your private life. The public doesn’t help since they’re as curious.”

Jongin chimes in their conversation, a look of disinterest evident on his face, “Medias are medias. They get paid to know about our private life. Let’s just not give two fucks about it, shall we?”

Sehun chokes on a laughter when he sees Chen’s bulging eyes, taken aback by Jongin’s words. None of either both takes Jongin as someone who would say profanities, but it was proven against because he just cursed.

_I mean hey, any person is capable of cursing even the noblest person ever._

He hears a chuckle coming from Jongin when he notices Chen’s bulging eyes, his hand comes up to pat the poor manager’s shoulder. There’s a smirk on his lips when he settles down from his chuckles, “I told you before. You will always find me surprising, there are many wonders to the infamous Kim Jongin.”

“But there’s no wonder to his narcissist side since it gets so tiring,” Sehun teases. When he earns a glare as a response, he smiles playfully before scrunching his nose.

Chen barks a laughter before he motions for Sehun to continue his practice, and he scurries back to the sofa by the side of the platform. He busies himself with the tablet, there’s still more hours to go as Sehun’s practices grew intensive.

A cough gains Sehun’s focus back at Jongin, and when he looks at Jongin’s hazel brown eyes, they speak of encouragement. 

“Aside from our practices and the tips I gave, remember to enjoy yourself in the runway, Sehun. I know you said modeling had become your passion but what models forget these days is to have fun.”

“Noted, Jongin. Thanks for the extra tip, but runways are always fun, so it’s always enjoyable to me.”

“Just a reminder, everyone needs one once in a while.” He walks behind Sehun then the brown haired boy jolts when a pair of hands land on his shoulders, giving a squeeze. He realizes too late that it’s Jongin’s hands and at this rate, he should’ve been used to it.

“Let’s start again with your walk but stop by the front. We’re going to fix your horrendous trademark move.”

Jongin leaves Sehun before the boy could even bark an offended scoff, and he stomps his feet in a grumpy manner, missing the fond gaze Jongin gives to him. He schools back his features when his lips start pursing, and he looks straight ahead, to where Jongin is now standing.

His feet starts taking long swift strides across the platform, his shoulders relaxing accordingly to his mind’s commands. When he gets to the front, Jongin’s hand gestures for him to pose and he does so.

Sehun’s gaze is trained straight ahead so he can hardly see Jongin. In the corner of his eyes, he sees Jongin climbing up to his side. “I’m trying to find something that screams you, but it’s still difficult to think of one. It’s fine to smirk or wink when a designer lets you be expressive, but if they don’t, you have to put out something more subtle.”

Jongin eyes him from head to toe, and it feels like he’s being observed up close that his insecurities start stirring up. He tries his best to maintain his expression, but then he hears Jongin sigh, “Sehun, walk from the middle and when you get here, do a pose again.”

And he does so, holding his gaze straight when he poses. 

No longer feeling hatred, or he _thinks so_ , Sehun should’ve been used to Jongin and his piercing gazes but he never does, and he had never felt even more scrutinized and judged in his whole life than right now, having Jongin looking him up and down.

Deep in his thought, Jongin’s gaze scans through every part of Sehun and without realizing, he’s quite astonished that Sehun is good looking. It’s riveting now that he’s actually looking at Sehun when he never does.

His posture is very ideal, his legs make up most of his height, similarly like Jongin’s. He’s not lanky as the rippling muscles in his arm are visible from the short sleeves of his shirt that he pulled to his shoulders. Veins running through his forearm and hands prominent under his pale skin.

Broad shoulders that are as wide or wider than his, a sharp jawline but against Jongin’s ego, he thinks his is still much more protruding than Sehun’s. His eyes lands on Sehun’s face features, admiring the small lips, to his defined nose that Jongin admits could be chiseled by god’s own hands.

His thick eyebrows are contorting, and his eyes stare off the distance. Jongin is almost lost in his thought, agreeing so to people that had called Sehun as god’s very own greatest creation, but from the captivating eyes Sehun has, he finally finds something that could be Sehun’s trademark.

“Your powerful point is your gaze, Sehun. You should try looking back when you turn around to leave a dramatic impression.”

In a reflex, Sehun’s head slightly nods before he realizes that he shouldn’t. He shrugs it off, moving on to doing as Jongin said. He turns around, but not before looking back to where he was staring at, giving a last piercing gaze. 

His feet walks back in long strides and a loud clap echoes in the vast space. The echoing sounds send him staggered in his walk, and thinking that he messed it up already, Sehun turns around.

Far back, Jongin’s clapping excitedly with the brightest smile he had ever seen. 

Chen’s smile is always bright, and he likes his manager’s smile, but Jongin’s smile is something else. It’s contagious and entrancing, but at the same time, Jongin had never looked so beautiful than with a bright smile on his lips.

A smile so bright, the sunshine can lose to it. Jongin’s smile could actually melt the winter snow, and send warmth to everyone who witnesses it. Caught up at the moment, Sehun unconsciously smiles back at Jongin, who’s walking towards him with the same smile.

“That was awesome, Sehun. From now on, looking back towards the crowd and camera is your trademark move,” he steps onto the platform, the bright smile doesn’t fade away, “If you’re stopping in the middle of the runway, gaze everyone around you.”

Stammering on his words, Sehun’s lips quirks into a half smile, “O-okay, Jongin.”

Both of Jongin’s hands come up to his shoulders, giving an encourage squeeze, something that Jongin had done quite a lot whenever he practices. He looks nervously to Jongin’s eyes that are hiding behind his glasses, the lens reflecting on the lights above.

After Jongin dismissed the practice for the day, Chen comes up to him with a wide grin and a bottle of water in his hand. He nudges Sehun to drink, before he pokes lightly on his arm, “So, what’s up between you and Mr. Warning Code Pink?”

Sehun glances nonchalantly at Chen, who’s wiggling his eyebrows, a thing he does whenever he teases. Dismissing it, Sehun scoffs before pushing away his manager, walking to the sofa.

“Don’t walk away from me, Sehun!”

“But I just did,” he opens his duffel bag, hands searching for his phone that he neglected for almost four hours, “I’m so worked up, I need rest. Let’s go home, Chen.”

“Are you avoiding this conversation, Oh Sehun?”

“Yes, I am. Now, can we go?” 

He gives his manager a last final look, but Chen isn’t having it as he sits on the sofa, pulling Sehun with him. They sit with a loud thud, and Sehun’s mind boggles in confusion to Chen’s manner.

“What I see is much more than what you will admit so. You obviously like Jongin.”

Sehun kind of half expected his manager to say that, “I don’t. He does things that are completely against of what I have thought of him. Isn’t it normal to be captivated?”

Chen clicks his tongue impatiently, knowing well that Sehun is never ever good with coming to terms with his feelings, “Captivated. You don’t get captivated if you saw someone do something unexpected. Astonished, yes, then you move on, but never captivated.”

It hits him that what Chen said was right and he hates how Chen can read him so accurately and be right at the same time. His mind wanders to where his heart is, seeking an answer whether it yields for Jongin, but he gets nothing in response.

_Maybe I’m just attracted to Jongin’s looks? Why did I even say I was captivated in the first place?_

Chen’s gaze softens when he sees Sehun’s distraught by his own thoughts, eyes blinking frantically, gaze trained on the floor and his legs quivering. Reflexively, Chen’s hand reaches to caress Sehun’s back, voice almost a whisper.

“Action speaks louder than words. That had always been how you are, Sehun. Even if your mind tells you, it’s merely an attraction, but the heart is always much more powerful. Look for it in your heart, it might say something one day. And you know you can always talk to me if talking to Junmyeon is too much hassle.”

The last part pulls Sehun off his thoughts as a cackle erupts from him, his manager following behind with an equally rowdy laughter. 

Chen had always been a brother to him as well, but sometimes much closer to heart because he knows him too well especially about how it gets tiresome when Junmyeon goes protective over who he likes. 

Amidst his laughter, Sehun mumbles “I will don’t worry about it.” A cough snaps them both to where it came from, and it’s no other than Jongin, who Sehun just noticed, dressed casually but never fails to impress him. 

He dons a white and black color block denim jacket, with a gray PLAY shirt from Comme Dé Garçon and black ripped jeans. The same black rimmed glasses is hanging on the tip of his nose, almost falling before Jongin pushes it back.

“Can I talk to you in private, Sehun?”

Sehun stands and walks towards the journalist before Chen gives him a knowing look and a teasing smile. Jongin is looking at him the way that Sehun is unable to understand or read what’s on his mind, inciting an anxiety inside Sehun.

“What do you want to talk about, Jongin?” And Sehun mentally pats himself that his voice comes out stably.

“I hadn’t quite given you credit for the past few weeks of our regular practices and the several events you helped give input for my articles. You’ve improved so much even in a short span of time. I know Paris Fashion Week isn’t up until two months but I’ve seen gradual improvements in your photo shoots and walk.”

At the immense amount of compliment in one saying, Sehun’s heart beats erratically and it’s thundering in his ear drums, he almost thought that Jongin could hear it. His hand reflexively rests on his chest, exactly where he can feel the thumping of his heart at a quicker pace than he normally does.

His cheeks must’ve slowly turned red at the moment, and he’s completely oblivious to his surroundings except for him and Jongin, who has a soft smile on his lips. Jongin’s lingering gaze on Sehun grew fonder each time, and Sehun doesn’t even know which is real and which is his mind tricking him.

“I know it’s too much coming from me but I’m glad you can put up with me even though I’m an A class prick and you hated my guts.”

Momentarily forgetting his irregular heartbeat, Sehun laughs before it slowly dies down when he can feel Jongin moving closer. From what he thought was already an intimate moment, it escalated, even more, when Jongin is closing their space.

“A quick confession from me to you, but I’m also glad I set aside my egos and decided to be your mentor because you’ve proven me wrong.”

Sehun avoids Jongin’s eyes by casting his gaze downwards to his and Jongin’s feet, silently praying his cheeks won’t get redder than it already is. He stammers in his words, “P-proven you wrong of w-what?”

Jongin’s breath fans over his face and Sehun is unaware of the smile Jongin has, “That no model deserves any of my compliments and praises because you are well deserved. Sehun, you will be the first and only model that will ever be acknowledged by me, and you have my words.”

Every inch of Sehun suddenly turns frail and weak as he is left breathless at the confession. He could even feel his legs getting wobbly, and he silently prays his stability doesn’t let him down.

It is and will always be an honor for Sehun to regain Jongin’s praise because not only another credible journalist is on his side, it’s _Jongin._ Aside from how much Jongin’s approval matters, in the past month, Jongin had persistently become his motivation to improve as a better model.

Sehun’s astonishment shatters when Jongin chuckles, “But I see you’ve become less sassy and the regular hot flashes happen lesser in the past month. What happened with the snappy Sehun I was introduced to before?”

His cheeks must’ve been fiery red at Jongin’s remark. He was sort of glad Jongin’s playfulness takes over in the heat of the moment, or he might’ve fallen unconscious from everything Jongin is doing that’s intensifying every joy in his chest.

He groans loudly, slapping Jongin with all the willpower he has left. He mumbles, a pout forming on his lips, “Asshole.”

The tone of Jongin’s voice is almost cheery, teasing even, but Sehun dismisses it at the wreck he had turned into, “Am and always will be at your service, Sehun.”


	3. Three

It was almost the end of April and Sehun’s birthday passes by with a small celebration with families and close friends, Baekhyun included. He’s never one to be so festive about his birthday, he’d just like everything to be simple that can easily be one of his favorite mementos.

Jongin didn’t wish him a happy birthday, not that he thinks the journalist would know when his birthday is but a little part of him wants Jongin to know. He seeks to get a birthday wish from the pink haired boy, and he doesn’t know why he wants it.

Sehun’s self-conscious brings him back to reality where he faces more camera flashes as he’s attending another independent brand’s fashion event with Jongin by his side, his arm gripping to Sehun’s wrist tightly but it’s not too tight to hurt him.

Up to this point, Sehun sees Jongin’s face on almost a daily basis that he could feel the slight feeling of afraid where he imagines if he stops seeing Jongin someday soon.

_Probably when Jongin decides he doesn’t want to be my mentor anymore…_

And Sehun hates that along with being afraid, he could feel the emptiness enveloping him when he imagines the absence of Jongin’s wits thrown to him almost every time they meet, or Jongin’s small intimate touches where he had his arm around Sehun’s waist.

He had always felt so calm and comforted by having Jongin by his side, and he knows that protective grip on his waist, not only it fits so well in the curve of his waist, but it gives a sense of protectiveness that Sehun gladly succumbs.

He snaps out of his thoughts again when he sees they’re standing by the desk with one of the staffs smiling calmly, a surprise to Sehun when he’s so used to seeing crews in these shows stammering in their words at the sight of Jongin.

_Heck, the sight of Jongin’s pink hair would have everyone make way for him or even scurry away. That journalist really had built up an empire of his rep._

The staff tapes two numbers to the invitation Jongin brought, and he points to where they should go to. Sehun nods his head as he sees Jongin turning towards another staff walking their way, not even bothering to bow.

Intentionally, Sehun walks slower to see or hear if the staff would send the warning code to his intercom and after a few long seconds, he subtly hears a sigh before the staff whispers, “Guys, warning: code pink.”

He smiles in triumph before he quickens his pace to match with Jongin’s and he nudges the journalist, “Hey, I heard the warning code again.”

“You did? I thought they wouldn’t when the staff looked pretty calm.”

“I thought so too, but maybe he still needed to give the warning. You are damning, Jongin.”

“Thanks, Sehun, it’s really not the first time I heard the word ‘damning’ next to my name.”

Sehun giggles, hands reflexively holding onto Jongin’s arm and he shoots Jongin with a nervous smile, pulling back his hand when he earns a glance. His eyes shifts to his feet, white leathered boots stomping on the floor, until he feels Jongin leaning closer.

A breath fans over the shell of his ear as Jongin whispers, “Why did you pull back? I was enjoying it.”

Before Sehun could comprehend, Jongin grabs his hand and clasp it to his own forearm. A small smile lacing on his lips as he looks back at Sehun’s startled ones. He leans in again, whispering softly against the thud of the music across the venue, “There you go. Where it should be.”

Sehun wishes Jongin didn’t mean what he actually thinks he does against the little part of him who naively hopes that it’s what he thought it would be. That Jongin is mutually feeling whatever he’s feeling right now.

Sitting in their assigned seat, the press tailing behind immediately starts taking photos of them, and the blitz once again blinds Sehun’s smiling eyes. Jongin’s arm rests in the small of his back before they start rubbing across his back and Sehun sighs in appreciation.

After the flashes end, Jongin scoots closer and Sehun, stunned in his seat, silently waits for what Jongin will say or do, “We’ll be going somewhere after the show in celebration of your late birthday.”

Surprised, he snaps at Jongin, looking baffled, because there’s no way Jongin knows when his birthday is, _right?_

“Chen gave me a heads up that you just turned 24 two weeks ago on 12th. Why didn’t you invite me in your small celebration?”

Groaning when he heard his manager’s name, Sehun should’ve known that Chen would likely tell Jongin about his birthday because the said manager is so compelled that Sehun has feelings for Jongin. 

He denies it, but in a lot of times, his manager always ends up being creepily accurate that he fears that Chen might be right again.

“I’m sorry I didn’t invite you. It was only a simple get together for my birthday, and we didn’t do anything festive besides everyone sharing their take on embarrassing stories about me and my childhood.”

“But at least, I could’ve been there and celebrate it with you.”

There’s a faint disappointment in his face and Sehun can see the growing frown in Jongin’s lips, causing a smile to bloom on Sehun’s. The only thought that he could muster is, _how adorable is an upset Jongin._

“I don’t care if you don’t want to, but we’re still going somewhere, I need to make up your late birthday celebration.”

“You don’t have to, Jongin. Just wish me a happy birthday, and I’ll let you off the hook.”

“I have to, and I insist. It’s not going to be festive, it’s just a trip to somewhere that I know you’ll like.”

As Jongin insisted after the show ended with Jongin visiting the backstage to greet the designer—and a hint of an unexpected praise that got the designer struggling to breathe—, they finally got back in the van and drove away to Jongin’s surprise.

Sehun glances to the streets they pass by and wonders where the journalist is taking him. A scenario that Jongin might be kidnapping him flutters in Sehun’s mind. 

He glances at Jongin nervously, and the latter realizes, offering a reassuring smile. The rumble of the van halts when he notices the van had stopped next to a park.

Jongin steps out ahead of him, taking something that Sehun doesn’t know what for he registers it too late. Stepping outside, he sees Jongin closing by next to him when he realizes that he’s holding two bubble teas.

At the sight of his favorite drink ever, he grins widely at Jongin, who has a glint in his eyes and a smirk, “Did you honestly think one of these bubble teas is for you?”

The grin on Sehun’s lips falters as his eyes gaze to Jongin’s feet, disappointed at even the slightest thought that Jongin would care to buy him a bubble tea. He closes the door to the van behind him, and Jongin pushes one of the bubble tea to him when he sees the brown haired pouting.

“Because one of it is for you, chocolate bubble tea, to accompany the rest of your night walk with me.”

Sehun smiled shyly, taking the offered bubble tea into his hand, feeling the cold drink against his palms, “Thank you, Jongin, this is so nice already. You know, we can just sit by somewhere instead of walking.”

“We’ll sit after we walk, I want to show you around my favorite park.”

Leading the way as Jongin points to several of his favorite spots in the park, Sehun smiles. Savoring the moment where he celebrates his birthday again, in a simple way, with someone that had significantly become a huge part of his life in the span of a few months.

Sehun pays attention to where Jongin points at as he sips his bubble tea, enjoying how the chocolate drink doesn’t taste too sweet or too bland, it just tastes right. 

He honestly thinks everything that Jongin rules out as his favorite spot is pretty but when Jongin points at a particular rustic wooden gazebo, it piques his interest so much that his intuition is to walk up there. 

Jongin silently follows behind, grinning when he quickly knows after everything he pointed, Sehun will like the gazebo the most.

There isn’t a roof covering the gazebo as it’s only rustic wooden entwined together, forming the structure with an airy feeling at the openness. A tree hovers above the open roof, creating a well-lighted appearance.

It is peaceful and secluded, and that is always appreciated for someone with the profession of constantly being in the spotlight. Sehun sighs in appreciation, hands tracing the rigid surface of the wood as he gazes at the view of the small pond.

The moonlight aligns perfectly with the gazebo, giving the adequate amount of light shining through it. Sehun can feel Jongin stepping closer next to him, not leaving a gap between them as he heaves in silence.

Jongin had always taken moonlight as much more beautiful and serene than sunlight especially when it shines to someone’s face, almost casting something mystically enchanting. 

Looking at Sehun’s side profile, Jongin admires how the moonlight hits Sehun’s face, a shadow forming by his side. In awe, Jongin’s smile turns into a grin while the brown haired boy stays oblivious to Jongin’s gaze.

They remain in silence, appreciating the night and having each other. There’s something strong when neither of them talks, but mutually connected through an unspoken feeling of being less lonely, just by knowing that they have each other.

Jongin leans in after the shared silence, one of his hand rests on Sehun’s back as he whispers, “Happy belated birthday, stiff.”

Sehun smiles at the nickname given that after weeks of absences, he only just heard it again now, “Thank you, asshole.”

 

 

“Heads up, Sehun, Paris Fashion Week in one week!”

Jongin’s voice echoes throughout the space, jolting Sehun from dozing off. May passed by in a blink, and for the past month, they had gone through intensive practice almost every weekday ranging from 2 to 3 hours.

It’s one of those days when Sehun had just finished a schedule, and he’s right off to Jongin’s warehouse, cramming a few hours to practice before he can fully rest in his home. The sweat beads that are forming on his temple trails down to his face, and he wipes it recklessly.

To think of it, he couldn’t believe Paris Fashion Week is in a week. 

Sehun remembered that a total of 10 brands booked him for the runway, and Chen consequently reminds him, “I know it’s Paris, and you want to explore, but please, Sehun, promise me you will take rests in between your La aventure.”

There’s a glint in Sehun’s eyes, causing Chen to whine in desperation, “Fine, I will get rests in between La aventure. What is La aventure anyways?”

“Said the boy who a minute ago felt the ‘adrenaline’ of being lost in Paris. You won’t even survive five minutes away from me, Sehun.”

It had also been some time since that night walk for Sehun’s belated birthday celebration with Jongin, and since then, Sehun noticed a lot of Jongin’s lingering gaze on him and he’s not sure if it’s a good sign.

But a thing is for sure, and that was Chen bombarding him with questions about what happened. In the most important part of Sehun spilling the details, they almost get caught by Junmyeon if not for Chen’s brilliant improv saving their asses.

Sehun isn’t sure Junmyeon is ready to hear about anything Jongin-related since his brother seems to hold the grudge tightly in his grip. He’ll have to tell him anyways but just not now.

Retaining his focus back, Sehun balances himself on the platform, chest heaving from breathing hard and the collars of his shirt drenched in his sweat. He gazes straight to where Jongin is standing, and panic settles in his head when his vision turns blurry.

_When was the last time I drank water? Oh wait, I haven’t…at all…_

He blinks his eyes, breathing in and out properly when darkness starts clouding his vision. His whole body could feel the blackout that Sehun is falling into, somehow simultaneously weakening the control of his limbs. 

Sehun had always hated a black out, and he hates himself for forgetting to do measly stuff to prevent it. Before he knew it, his mind tunes out everything around him as his vision is no longer blurry but a black abyss.

He subtly hears hurried footsteps and the shout of his name before he loses control of everything and falls into someone’s arms. Someone’s breath fans over his face, as he chants Sehun’s name in a panicked voice, which he discerns slowly as Jongin’s.

His senses are telling him that he’s being dragged somewhere and someone is hustling near him before he’s met with a pile of soft pillows. Someone near him sighs when Sehun lays on his back, “I should’ve known that you didn’t eat or drink anything before you practice.”

It’s Jongin.

“I’m so sorry for putting you in so much work, Jongin.”

“Don't apologize to me, I asked Chen to order food for you. Here’s water, sit up slowly,” Sehun complies and sits up in what he thinks is slowly, but Jongin whispers calmly, “Slowly, Sehun, slowly.”

He gulps in as much water as he can, and it drips messily from the water bottle, further drenching Sehun’s shirt. He pokes Jongin as a gesture that he had enough to drink, and the latter puts it away, before dubbing a tissue onto Sehun’s chin.

To think of it, Jongin had never cared to this extent, and he had never sounded so soft yet terrified than how he was a moment ago. If not for his pitch black vision, Sehun would’ve made sure to thank him as sincere as he can. 

Instinctively, Sehun’s hand roams to where he thinks Jongin is and his hand meets one of Jongin’s surprisingly without any effort. It’s as if Jongin had expected Sehun’s hand and he could feel the latter’s hand moving to intertwine their hand.

“I’m sorry if I scared you,” Sehun mumbles softly, and he hopes Jongin could hear.

“You don’t know how terrified I am. I’m pissed at myself for pushing you to this extent, and you should be pissed at me too.”

“Why would I be pissed at you?” The brunette reassures Jongin with a squeeze of their linked hand.

“I have this trait where I push myself past my limit, and I shouldn’t have done that to anyone besides myself.”

It’s unsettling to hear Jongin so fragile and insecure with himself. Admittedly, it breaks Sehun’s heart that someone as confident as Jongin could be this self-aware and anxious. 

Attempting to comfort Jongin, Sehun gently massages their intertwined hands, smiling when Jongin reciprocates by giving a firm squeeze. 

The door clicks open, and who Sehun assumes is Chen, steps closer to him, “Are you feeling better, Sehun? I ordered soup and your favorite fried rice.”

“I still can’t see anything, but I’m feeling less dreaded.”

“Get a well rest, Sehun. I’m so sorry I didn’t remind you to eat,” there’s a momentary pause, and he could hear a mumble, “Don’t worry, I’ll be expecting a smack on the head by Junmyeon later on.”

Sehun laughs in reflex even in the middle of his blackout, silently grateful Chen knows how to put him at ease. There’s a tap from his and Jongin’s linked hand, it could only mean that Jongin is reminding him to ease down his laugh.

The food gets delivered after about half an hour, and the smell of fried rice spreads around the room when Chen enters, causing an embarrassing grumble from Sehun’s stomach. Although his vision still makes up of a haze, it’s getting better than the pitch black before.

Sitting up slowly, he could blearily see Chen giving the soup bowl to Jongin, nudging him to feed Sehun. Smokes puffing out of the bowl causes Jongin to try sipping it by the tip of his tongue, testing if it’s too hot or not.

“It’s still too hot, Chen, just give him the chamomile tea first.”

Gently, Chen pushes the cup to Sehun’s lips, and he drinks it carefully. He breathes a sigh of content when the smell of chamomile calms his nerves. He mutters a thank you, before looking around to where they are.

His sight is still hazy, but he could make up rows of the sofa near him, with a TV hanging on the wall across him. There’s a shelf full of books on the other end, and he could administer a few prints hanging on the wall, but he fails to see what are those prints.

“Where are we?”

“In my private quarter, Sehun,” against Jongin’s blurry features, he could make up a spoonful of soup in one of his hand, “Here, drink up, the soup is finally warmer.”

After finishing half of the soup, relief washes him when he regains his vision back. Sehun motions for the fried rice in Chen’s hand but when he reaches for it, Jongin snatches it faster than him. 

“Let me feed you, Sehun.”

“I can eat by myself, Jongin. I’m not a baby.”

“Come on, I insist. Compensation to what I did to you.”

“But you did nothing, Jongin. Don’t blame this on yourself, there’s no one to blame but myself.”

“No—.” 

A loud groan coming from someone else cuts their argument, “How about we don’t blame anyone and just have you for a speedy recovery?” 

Chen rolls his eyes in annoyance before he pokes for Jongin to feed Sehun the fried rice, causing the journalist to grin when Sehun whines in complain.

Watching everything that went down in front of him, Chen wishes he could silently record _the couple_ , and yes, Chen desperately wants them to be a couple after he encounters a pale Jongin at the view of Sehun losing his balance and falling unconscious. 

But he’s glad he was discreet enough to take a photo of their intertwined hands and proceeds to save it in his _“Favorites”_ album.

Jongin pokes on his elbow continuously after Sehun finishes eating the fried rice, and Chen swiftly takes the empty container away, along with the teacup and bowl. Nodding his head as a questioning gesture, Jongin’s lips tugs into a small smile.

“You need a breather, and I know where you can get one with a great view,” and without having Sehun any second to contemplate, Jongin pulls Sehun’s arm to stand up with him.

Before Sehun could even muster what is going on and complain even more at the pink haired boy, Jongin’s arm encircles around Sehun’s waist, and it never stops to amaze him how perfect they fit. A tinge of dizziness in his head leads Sehun to do the same, putting his arm around Jongin’s shoulders.

Just as they opened the door, they face a surprised Chen with his hands left hanging in the air, reaching for the door knob. It dissolves into a teasing look, and mostly directing towards Sehun, who much to his distaste, knows what Chen is implying.

“Where are you both going?”

“I thought Sehun needs a breather and I know where he can get that in this building,” Jongin cuts in before Sehun opens his mouth.

Chen’s gaze lands on Sehun’s arm resting on Jongin’s shoulder and it slowly shifts to the protective grip Jongin has on Sehun’s waist. Unconsciously, the corner of his lips quirks into a fond smile.

“Just be careful. Much appreciated if you can take care of him since a smack and an earful of angry lectures from Junmyeon is guaranteed to my doom.”

Sehun smiles at Chen gleefully and what he gets as a response is a little scoff from Chen, but his smile returns without missing a beat. Jongin nods his head, he points his index finger at Chen, earning a chuckle from the latter as he points his finger back. 

The thought that Chen’s particular trait might’ve rubbed onto Jongin leaves a horror to Sehun since he knows his manager would definitely make use of that advantage to have Jongin join in when he’s teasing Sehun.

They let Chen alone after Chen admittedly wants to continue playing games where he left off—Sehun secretly knows his manager is playing Resident Evil 7 after he caught him red-handed with Junmyeon—in Jongin’s computer with a flustered look.

Turning into an empty hallway, there are flights of gray stairs ahead of them that had the impression it was mid-air and Sehun gasps when he notices that it sticks to the walls. Jongin’s grip stays firm on Sehun’s waist as he intentionally lets Sehun’s body lean to him.

Facing a glass door when they reach midway of the stairs, Jongin opens it in ease before closing the door behind them and continues to help Sehun up the stairs. There’s a bare opening with the blue sky glaring back, and Sehun feels the anticipation of what’s to come.

“Here we are. Welcome to my rooftop or what I usually call it as ‘the lush getaway.’”

Scanning the decorations and interior for the rooftop around him, Sehun finds himself tongue-tied when he sees how it’s intricately decorated. Various of lush plants, but Sehun could only tell one off, and it’s a juniper with a handful of flowers such as lavenders, daylily, and honeysuckle adorns the edges of the rooftop garden.

Underneath him are a tiled pathway leading to the main area where hammock chairs are hanging from the roof and a couple of bean bag chairs surrounding a wooden coffee table. He sees the similar hexagon plants from the hallway downstairs, dangling more than one in several spots of the roof.

A shelf with stained glass stands towards the coffee table, and Sehun secretly wants to sneak a glance at what’s inside. His feet takes a step further ahead with Jongin letting a surprised yelp as he almost loses his grip on Sehun’s waist.

“Jongin, I'm all right, and I’m not injured. It was just a blackout.”

“And you just forgot on water and food,” Jongin’s voice laced with worry and Sehun finds it so endearing, his lips tugs into a small reassuring smile.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine, you brought me here for a breather anyways. So, care to give a short tour?”

Jongin grins before he pulls Sehun closer to his side, not wanting to let Sehun go just yet and Sehun sighs much to his glee. He really thinks that he’s okay, but his insides are feeling tingly since no one ever held his waist as intimate as Jongin is right now.

_Calm down, Sehun, it’s just Jongin’s arm._

“So this is where you can lounge in, of course,” _was that a nervous laugh?_

“Right here is a shelf packed with foods and a mini fridge in one of the cabinets. I also have tons of books because I like reading and this is my go-to place when I read.”

“You do? What type of books do you like?”

“Mostly mystery and science fiction novels. I can read fantasy novels, but it’s not the genre I would go to in a bookstore.”

“Bummer, I love fantasy novels,” Sehun pouts against his will, earning an adorable smile from Jongin and Sehun doesn’t even know why he thinks it’s cute, his mind just processes it so.

“I can lend you one of my books, and you’ll know why mystery and sci-fi novels are also equally or even better than fantasy.”

“Are you persuading me, Mr. Journalist?”

There’s a bright gleam in Jongin’s eyes before the corner of his lips tugs into his trademark smirk, “You have no idea, Oh Sehun.”

He braces himself for the impact Jongin’s words has to his body, and there it is. His heart beating erratically again and he hates how his heart thumps loud so easily with just a few words from Jongin. 

His mind is busy commanding for his heart to steady down, he doesn’t realize Jongin is slowly letting him sink down into the bean bag chair before he walks towards the shelf. He opens to a cabinet, taking out two cartons of milk and Sehun can’t help the cheery smile.

“Cold milk? Holy shit, Jongin, you’re the best!”

“I know I am, Sehun, you don’t need to remind me,” Jongin’s voice is now back to his usual confident and prideful that Sehun misses his previously worried one.

“You know what, I take that back. You’re the worst.”

Jongin rests his hand on his chest, eyes looking offended as if Sehun had insulted him, “You hurt my heart, Sehun. After all, I did, and I’m the worst?”

Sehun leaves it at that as Jongin sits on the tiled floor with his back resting on the bean bag chair Sehun’s sitting on. A small carton of milk is placed on Sehun’s lap as the sound of rustling plastic foil could be heard following with slurping noises.

Before Sehun sticks his straw in, he pokes Jongin’s back with his knee, and when he hears a hum, he asks, “Jongin, is this where you said you were going to tell Chen and Junmyeon to go to?”

Sehun could only see the soft pink hair following along the nodding to his head. His mouth occupied with drinking the milk before he responds, “It is, this is the said playroom that you thought of before.”

Sehun is suddenly glad that he just poked his straw in or he would’ve choked on his drink—he doesn’t want to worry Jongin more—. Sehun looks around the rooftop, and he’s yet to notice a metal gate opening towards the endless sky, and he pokes Jongin again.

“Where does the small metal gate lead to?”

“To another staircase that leads to my private quarter.”

A question pops in his head when he’s reminded of the hassle they went through from climbing up the indoor stairs before. He sucks on his straw, feeling the cold milk run down his throat before he asks, “Then why didn’t we climb that staircase?”

“I never actually do because the ‘lush getaway’ loses its charm when you go through the other staircase. I would usually just sit there to stargaze.”

“You can?” 

At this, Jongin turns around, head nodding as his arm rests on Sehun’s lap, a soft smile decorates his lips with his eyes hiding behind the light reflecting on his glasses.

“I’ll show you soon, but I guess this is enough for now. You know, I never really show the rooftop to anyone, it’s the most private place I ever had. Soojung never even comes here, she knows this is my personal space.”

“Then why are you bringing me here?”

“Because you gave me your trust, now I need to give mine,” and a lightness seeps through Sehun’s head but he’s for once, glad for the subtle throbbing in his head.

A beautiful orange hue decorates through the sky around them but drowned by the beauty that lies beneath their soft chuckles and giggles as they talk on and on and continues so from friends and families to non-sensical embarrassing memories of their early modeling journey.

Time slips by from their endless conversations, and at one point, Jongin takes off his glasses onto his hair. If Sehun knows beforehand how enchanting Jongin’s eyes could hold, he won’t be surprised that it’s hiding behind the glasses.

Finally, he can land his gaze on the clear twinkling eyes of Jongin’s brown orbs. A soft smile is growing on Jongin’s plump lips, and it had never looked so inviting for him to feel those on his own pair.

Jongin breathes a sigh, eyes gazing at the sky above them as the orange hue slowly sinks into the dark sky, “If you can wait a little longer, I’ll make your wish for star gazing on my rooftop come true.”

“It’s getting late, don’t you think? I feel like I’m hogging you here.”

“The only one that should feel like hogging someone is me, Sehun. Your manager is probably patiently waiting downstairs.”

Reflexively, Sehun shuts his eyes in remembrance of his awaiting manager downstairs, probably even worried sick about him. He hurriedly unlocks the phone he left on the coffee table and stunned with the lack of notification from Chen.

He sees two message and a missed call, but that’s it, and Sehun opens it hesitantly, his guts telling him that Chen is pulling onto something,

 

 _From:_ **_Chennie/Manager Hyung,_ **

\+ I’m not surprised if by you not answering my call, you’re currently getting it on with Mr. Warning Code Pink ;) but pls pretty pls come down before midnight or Junmyeon will lit my ass on fire for bringing you home too late.

\+ REMEMBER THAT I FORGOT TO REMIND YOU TO EAT AND DRINK? BOIII AM I GONNA BE BURNED ALIVE. HELP A FRIENDLY MANAGER OUT AND GET BACK BEFORE MIDNIGHT PLS THANK :”

 

He opens the clock on his phone, 8 pm blaring back at him and he’s astounded how time passes by so fast when he’s spending it with Jongin. There’s a knowing look in Jongin’s face when Sehun looks back at him.

“Chen is panicking, isn’t he?”

“Surprisingly no,” Sehun pauses for a moment, savoring the stunned look Jongin has especially without the glasses, “He wants me to be back before midnight, but I guess I can spend one or two more hours with you.”

“Do you want to call him to make sure?”

His phone presses the speed dial to Chen, putting him on a speaker as they listen to the several beeps. Chen would usually answer after the second beep, but it seems like his manager is more preoccupied than he is.

As if on cue, the beep dies down, and there are disgruntles along with some incoherent whispers across the call. When Sehun calls out for Chen, the said manager screams so loud that it causes Jongin to flinch.

“What, Oh Sehun?”

He laughs at the annoyed voice Chen has, and that explains one thing only, “You’re still playing Resident Evil aren’t you? A moment ago you were pissing at the possibility of Junmyeon’s wreath.”

“As long as you get here before 12 then we’re ready to go. But don’t get your ass here 10 minutes before 12 or you’ll catch these—Fuck!”

A chuckle slips past Sehun’s lips, “I will, Chen. Go ahead and get back with your Ethan.” Without waiting for an answer, Sehun ends the call and puts away his phone back on the coffee table. 

Jongin abruptly stands up, heading to the gate of the staircase and Sehun follows behind, making sure he doesn’t surprise himself by standing up slowly. Taking a peek from Jongin’s shoulder, he sees it’s an ordinary metal staircase with a few pots of plants on the railing.

For when he feels Sehun’s presence behind him, Jongin is taken aback before it shifts into a scolding look. It’s the same look when he tries to let go Jongin’s arm on his waist a moment ago.

Sehun speaks up before Jongin could open his mouth in a protest, “It’s been hours, and I’m feeling fine. I stood up slowly if it helps lessen your worry.”

A strong gust of wind blows towards them, messing Jongin’s pink hair as he shakes his head in defeat. Sehun silently wishes he could have his hand comb through Jongin’s pink hair at the sight of it cascading softly. He sits fewer flights of stairs down, his hands tapping onto the surface of the stair Sehun should sit on.

Holding onto the rail, Sehun sits himself down slowly, cautious of Jongin’s gaze on him, watching every movement he does. Leaning against the cold metal barrier, Sehun stares up at the starry sky, his eyes adapting to the darkness of the night.

When it does, his eyes scans across the stars that are blinking back at him, and he smiles in content, Jongin’s fond gaze going unnoticed. 

Sehun’s eyes find himself staring back at Jongin, and he thanks Jongin for taking his glasses off because he had never looked so much of it, they always hide behind black rimmed glasses. Now, they’re looking back at his.

Tension arises between them when they hold their gazes on each other, neither of them uttering a word but unlike one where Sehun always loathes, his heart is telling him it’s more intimate, causing his cheeks to flush in pink.

Jongin breaks the gaze as he clears his throat, “Have I successfully gave you my trust?”

Both of Sehun’s palm covers his flushed cheeks, hiding them from Jongin’s eyesight, “Yes, you did. Thank you for showing me the rooftop, Jongin, the view is as beautiful as you said.”

“Don’t you think my looks outshines the view?”

His cocky laugh resonates through Sehun’s ear, and he has to groan at the question. Although admittedly, Jongin had come close to be as pretty as the view with the strands of his pink hair cascading gently on his forehead, the edges threatening to cover his eyes.

But Sehun won’t admit so.

“Are we back to the narcissist Jongin?”

“Sweetheart, narcissist Jongin will always be here. For you probably, and for me.”

Sehun’s cheeks grow into a deeper red at the nickname given as his palm closes tighter on his cheeks and his heart starts racing into an irregular rhythm.

The nickname Jongin had ever called him was by the favorite nickname he gave to Sehun, which is stiff, but he never called Sehun any other nickname, much more ‘sweetheart.’ Easing himself, he closes his eyes, sucking a breath before he opens them again.

“You smooth fucker, I don’t even need a narcissist Jongin.”

_Damn it, the things Jongin does to me…_

“Admit it, your life is bland, you need to spice things up, and that’s where narcissist Jongin swoops in,” and Jongin winks playfully before grinning.

Sighing in retreat, Sehun gazes up at the stars again, glued to his seat and he doesn’t want to go, but he knows he has to soon enough. He glances at the wristwatch he’s wearing, and it says 9 pm, an hour away before he gets back.

There’s a shuffling to his feet, but he ignores it, until the journalist speaks up, “Do you want to know why I’m so blunt with my articles?”

In all honesty, Sehun never wonders why since he always thought Jongin is an elaborate asshole, but after knowing him well for the past month, he felt like there must be more to it than what it seems. Sehun hums in response, waiting for Jongin to continue.

“My father was a supermodel back in the days, and my oldest sister followed behind his steps. Without a surprise, she was a natural and with my father’s reputation surrounding her, she had it easy and became a supermodel in no time. But no, that didn’t happen to me.”

He listens intently as he sees Jongin sucking in a deep breath, before he smiles gently, eyes blinking a few times. 

“I was so inspired to be the next model from the Kim family but lo and behold, I wasn’t a natural. I needed to grow, and I made tons of amateur mistakes that with the heavy weight of my father’s reputation, journalists’ and reporters’ natural inclination is to dismiss me without any hesitance. They said I was a disgrace to the Kim, but my father stayed positive for me, and he relentlessly motivates me to improve more. I did so, pushing over my boundaries and that’s how I achieved a tremendous prestige under my own name without the help of my family’s reputation whatsoever.”

“I thought you had it all, Jongin,” Sehun mumbles softly, barely above a whisper. 

At that moment, he feels ashamed of the thought that Jongin had it easy since he was a model ever since he’s a kid. Every person has different struggles to reach their success, and Jongin is no different.

“I didn’t, Sehun, I was a model ever since I was young, but it goes a long way when you don’t have the ‘it’ factor to be one. Now, do you know why I suddenly became a journalist?”

“Because you live for challenges?”

“Partly right, but it’s mostly because I want to prove that if by any means, a model is terrible, then a journalist should explain why they think so, don’t say that it’s just bad. I experienced that, and I don’t want that to happen to anyone, that’s why I’m rude, but I have a concrete explanation behind it. Every journalist that put me down were kissing off my feet when I earned the credibility, now I became one of them, still withholding the credibility, so they don’t have anything to bark back at what I say.”

In a minute of silence, Sehun discerns at everything that it hits him right in his heart of the good intention behind Jongin’s criticism. Not only that he can appreciate more of Jongin’s articles, but that was also a great pep talk, and it inspired him to improve more, for his part, and a little of himself whispers, for Jongin as well.

His mind somehow maneuvers over for his heart when he takes a seat down next to Jongin. Another blink of his eyes, he has his arm around Jongin’s shoulder, the muscles underneath tensing as Sehun pulls him closer.

“Thank you for everything, and by everything, meaning from when you decided to diss me off, or I would never be here with you as I am right now. And also thank you for believing and trusting me. I can’t believe in the span of a few months, I’ve known you more than just an asshole of a journalist.”

Jongin laughs nervously, the shoulders underneath Sehun’s arm rocking gently as it relaxes. Glancing at his wristwatch, it’s coming close to 9:30 pm, and that’s his cue to head downstairs. He knows he’ll need a full 15 minutes to drag Chen away especially when he’s in his ‘Game Mode.’

Standing abruptly, Sehun whispers another thank you before climbing up the stairs and leaving behind a startled Jongin with his mind finally catching up at the sight of Sehun heading towards the indoor stairs.

Sehun hears a whiny voice behind him, and he smiles at how adorable it sounds especially when he knows it’s Jongin’s, “You’re leaving already?”

“I have to, Jongin, it’s 9:30 now. Does it occur in your mind that I also need to drag Chen away from his game?”

An exasperated sigh slips from Jongin’s lips as he follows Sehun’s dark figure downstairs and onto his private quarters. Sehun’s presence had been such a welcoming feeling, and Jongin knows the brunette had started blossoming his way into his heart.

His mind suddenly flashes on the sight of Sehun having a black out a few hours ago, and he frowns before his arms reach to pull Sehun into a halt.

“Sehun, I want you to have the rest of the week off. Just rest up, enjoy your time before it starts getting hectic when Paris Fashion Week starts.”

“Wait, are you serious?”

“I am. I know you’re not like me and our practices had been enough. Now, I need you to rest up, and don’t exhaust yourself.”

“Are you slowly turning into my mother?”

“I can turn into more of a mother if you tire yourself, so don’t, Sehun.”

A laugh erupts from Sehun as Sehun catches Jongin’s hand in his and gives a gentle squeeze, “Hey, do you think I’ll do okay in fashion week?”

“Sehun, you’ll do amazing. I believe you’ll sweep the runway and catch everyone breathless.”

“Then will I catch yours too, Jongin?”

This is the first time Sehun teases at Jongin, and he had expected another clap back, but what he gets is Jongin staying mute, with a small smile on his lips and the deep gaze his eyes hold. 

The thundering to his heart eventually starts again as he awkwardly laughs, letting go Jongin’s hand much to his distaste, but Chen is his top priority to avoid both of them from getting Junmyeon’s lecture of the night. The sight of his manager saving before exiting his video game the minute they walk in is shocking and a revelation to Sehun because Chen _never_ does that.

Reading Sehun easily, Chen smirks, arms crossing, “Surprised to see me done? That’s because Junmyeon called and my ‘game mode’ sort of dies down when I hear him dragging on about how it’s affecting your health if you stay up too late.”

“How come I didn’t expect that?”

“Probably because you were way up in heaven—,” before Chen can even continue, Sehun had him under his arm, choking his manager jokingly but in a way, stopping him from blurting anything more.

Sehun thanks Jongin sincerely before he excuses himself with Chen, still under his arm, no longer trying to escape as he just tags along tiredly. They rush into the van parked right outside the building as the driver standing by, rushes into the driver’s seat at the sight of Sehun and Chen.

Watching the van drive away in the night, the thought of what Sehun teases earlier keeps running through Jongin’s head, and it took him a while to finally admit that, 

_Sehun, you already did._

 

 

A week passes by in a glimpse, and when Sehun looks around him, he sees the interior of their plane to Paris. Junmyeon is fast asleep next to him even when the flight hadn’t taken off while Chen, sitting in the row behind them, is still busy typing on his tablet.

Next to Chen, sits Jongin, looking very polished as per usual with his glasses on and he’s flipping through the pages of his journal, before tucking it aside and grabbing a novel, it reads ‘The Devotion of Suspect X’ in red.

Sehun panicked for awhile back in the front gate when Chen says that they’ll be waiting for someone else and he sees Jongin arriving right after. It didn’t pass through his mind at all that Jongin has to come because he’s invited as _a journalist._

He looks horribly embarrassed just as Jongin snorted and reminded him of his job because how can Sehun forget when his job is what brought them to where they are now? 

Now, they’re all off to Paris together, and Sehun’s heart is beating so loud, echoing in his ear drums and his chest is somewhat restricting, causing him to feel suffocated. As terrible as it sounds, overall he’s so pumped and excited for Paris, and he knows he’ll drag Junmyeon and Chen around, or _maybe Jongin too?_

“Sehun, get a rest before we arrive in Paris.”

Surprised at Jongin’s voice, he glances behind him and sees Jongin standing by the back of his chair, smiling before he goes to the lavatory. Sehun sneaks a curious gaze towards Chen, and as he expected, Chen is smiling, giving a wink when he notices Sehun is looking at him.

Before he sleeps, Sehun makes sure to take off his shoes so he can make the most out of his sleep. Adjusting the seat into a makeshift bed, he closes the window by his side, preventing the light of the day from coming through and bother his sleep.

He quickly drifts into a soundless sleep, and during the flight, he only wakes up if Junmyeon nudges him about food being served or his toilet needs. He spends most of his time sleeping, but at one point, he couldn’t and looks to Junmyeon, who’s sleeping with a drool pooling in the corner of his lips.

Sehun ends up watching ‘V For Vendetta’ just because he loves it too much and it had him wishing he could wield blades as expertly as V. There’s a loud cough from behind his seat, and he looks back to see Jongin, again, peering to what Sehun is watching.

“Do you know that at the end, V dies?”

_This prick thinks I haven’t watched it so he intentionally spoils the end huh…_

He pauses the movie before he looks back up, giving Jongin a pissed look, playing along with the role of someone getting the plot of a film spoiled.

“What the fuck, Jongin, why did you spoil it?”

“Because I love being an asshole to you.”

“Well I don’t like it, so it’s unnecessary to me. Find someone else to be an asshole to,” scoffing annoyedly, Sehun pauses before he counters back, “What else after V died? The chancellor and Creedy being dead, so the authorities let everyone march through and watch the Parliament blown until fireworks shoot to the sky?”

He chuckles when he hears Jongin choking on his own words because no one can mess with him and his favorite movies. He could play James Dean’s ‘Rebel Without A Cause,’ and if Jongin were to pull the same thing, he'd be able to cite one of the lines.

Peeking through the window, he sees it’s night time, and he barely sees any stars unlike that one night on the rooftop with Jongin. Keeping a look out how much more hours to go, Sehun presses on the remote of the screen and sees it blaring 5 hours.

Sighing, Sehun changes it back to the movie he’s watching. He doesn’t want to feel dreaded as he thinks that 5 more hours isn’t a long way to go if he doesn’t check the time. He might as well borrow one of Jongin’s mystery book sometime later.

 

 

Sehun still couldn’t believe his eyes that he’s in Paris when he sees the beautiful, bustling streets passing by from the window of the car Chen rented, along with a driver that speaks bilingual. They’re currently on their way to the hotel, and Chen promised for a hotel with the best view of Paris, so Sehun holds on to that promise.

He doesn’t really expect the view of Eiffel Tower right from the window of his hotel, and he’s in awe of how lovely it looks with the lights twinkling brightly against the night. Junmyeon has an equally mesmerized look on his face where he just stares at the view from the window silently.

When Chen comes by a minute later, he chuckles, seeing the two boys gawking at the view. He heads to break the ogling with a loud clap and the two boys glance back at a grinning Chen. 

“Let’s have a rest for the night, shall we? You still have 3 days off for rehearsals before fashion week, Sehun. You can explore when you’re done with rehearsals.”

“Is Junmyeon Hyung staying in the same room with me?”

Sighing exasperatedly, Chen did manage that, and he wonders how a spoiled little brat Sehun is when he just turned 24 but still having to room with his older brother.

“Yes, he is. Remember, Jongin’s and my room is right around the corner of the hallway.”

“Wait,” Sehun blinks confusedly, “Jongin is staying in the same hotel with us?”

“A gentle reminder that he’s still your mentor and coincidentally, this is where Jongin regularly stays at when he’s invited to shows in Paris. The staffs and even the owner knows him well.”

Jongin’s recognition is staggering, but Sehun doesn’t even know that he had an acquaintance in luxury accommodations. Sehun feels like he can never take Jongin’s prestige for granted anymore.

“Surprising, isn’t it? He was also very kind to offer a discount for us when he knows we’re staying in the same hotel as he is.”

It’s unbelievable that after spending time with Jongin regularly, the amount of surprise entailing behind Jongin doesn’t stop and Sehun could only get through it slowly. He remains quiet as his fingers start fidgeting under the long sleeves of his cotton shirt.

“Boyfriend goals, isn’t he?” Chen asks teasingly, his eyebrows wiggling in an annoying way, forgetting for a moment that Junmyeon is standing next to Sehun, brows contorting.

Motioning for Chen to cut it out, Chen finally does so when he notices the glare Junmyeon gives to him, that not only it is a questioning but also threatening. Smiling sheepishly, Chen scurries away as he apologizes to both of them.

Sehun mentally palms his face, and it gets worse when Junmyeon asks with a hesitant voice, “Chen was joking, wasn’t he?”

Groggily, Sehun breathes a laugh, neither confirming nor denying because he very well knows Chen doesn’t joke about his crushes.

 

 

Going through three days full of rehearsals, Sehun only has time at night to look around briefly before he gets back to his hotel and get as much rest as he can before he goes through the hectic and fast paced fashion week has.

Its early morning in the middle of June and Sehun is wide awake and fully dressed, ready to go to the first venue of the brand, Balenciaga. It’s not the first show of the week, but it’s the first ever show Sehun will walk in for Men’s Fashion Week Paris.

He feels every bit of excitement that it’s d-day of his next big step to conquering the fashion world and Junmyeon isn’t helping when he’s busy making sure Sehun had eaten and drank, asking once in a while if he needs anything to bring with him.

Chen is also joining in shortly after, going through the last checklist for the rest of the day as he walks back and forth throughout the room, hands busy typing in the tablet. Sehun shakes his head at the current havoc because beneath all this, he knows both of them are excited for him.

At one point, both Chen and Junmyeon are talking to him at the same time, and he has to stop them by shaking their shoulder simultaneously. 

“Guys, guys, breathe in, breathe out. I know you’re excited for me, but really, don’t make it even more nerve-wrecking than it is already.”

They both mumbled a ‘sorry’ with an apologetic look and Junmyeon cuts in, hands on one of Sehun’s shoulders, there’s a proud smile, and it somewhat eases Sehun down.

“I’m so proud of you, Sehunnie, I really am. Look, you’ve come so far, and we’re in Paris right now. One of your dream cities, other than Milan! I know you’ve always dreamed of being here and I’m glad I get to witness your first European show.”

Sehun’s heart swells with every bit of pride and joy, he could almost feel the tears forming in his eyes and his lips the brightest grin of the morning. Without realizing, a tear slips past his cheeks, and he hurriedly wipes it away, but the smile Junmyeon has isn’t making it any better _at all._

“Mom and dad would’ve been so proud of you, I’m sure of it.”

Not only does the mention of their parents reminds him of old memories, but it also opens the healed wounds as it takes him back to when they were still alive. The topic about their parents had always been sensitive, Sehun would always shut down at the mention of it, which is why Junmyeon avoids anything related to it.

But now, Junmyeon mentioning how their parents would be so proud of him causes the tears that he was holding back, pouring over from his eyes. Instinctively, Junmyeon pulls him into a tight embrace, calming him with a soothing rub on his back.

He notices Chen stepping closer as he smiles, one of Sehun’s favorite smiles ever to note, and his hand joins to rub on Sehun’s back as he cries to Junmyeon’s shoulder, letting his sealed emotions get the best of him.

Much to his distaste of opening healed wounds, his mind forms an imaginary figment of their parents smiling at what he had become today, chanting, “We’re proud of our little Sehunnie.” It sends more despair to him when he wishes, his small, fragile heart wishes, that their parents could’ve witnessed this day with Junmyeon.

His emotions are betraying him, putting him away from his right mind. His sobs couldn’t stop as he whispers to Junmyeon weakly, “Hyung, I miss them so much.”

“I know you do. I do too, Sehun. Every day.”

Secluding himself from his surroundings, he doesn’t realize another presence in the room, carefully walking closer at the sight of him crying with Chen and Junmyeon by his side. Chen is the first to notice Jongin’s presence, and he smiles, motioning for him to come closer.

Jongin gives him a look of bewildered, questioning what’s happening to Sehun and his mind also wondered why the sight of Sehun crying wrecks his heart so much. Pulling Jongin closer, Chen leans in to whisper, “He’s reminded of his parents. They’re not here with him to see his first show in Paris.”

“Where are his parents?”

“That’s for you to find out, Jongin. Time will come when he’ll tell you about his parents.”

At that, Jongin concludes that Sehun’s parents must’ve no longer been around his and Junmyeon’s life anymore, one way or another. Looking at Junmyeon, he could see how caring he is towards Sehun, yet the light in his eyes dim slightly at the sight of Sehun crying.

Before he could even nudge Junmyeon about his presence, Chen’s hand reaches to pat Junmyeon’s back and the latter glances momentarily before he notices Jongin’s sincere eyes falling on him. 

And for the first time ever, Chen sees Junmyeon pulling back with his hand tugging at Jongin’s, motioning for the confused journalist to take over.

Doing that for someone else requires Junmyeon’s trust as he’s always taking himself as a priority over any other person when it comes to Sehun. So the simple gesture he just did, shows how he had put his grudge aside and the amount of trust he gave to Jongin.

Sehun blinks the tears as he blearily sees Junmyeon pulling away, missing the warmth before someone steps in place of Junmyeon, someone taller than his brother that his droopy head falls easily to the person’s chest. 

The first person that comes to mind is Jongin. He could feel the person’s arms encircling around his waist, and Sehun arms grip weakly to the back of the person’s shirt before it moves to hugging his back.

“Are you feeling better, stiff?”

He smiles, even at the state he’s currently in, at the mention of his given nickname, proving that it really is Jongin. The tears ultimately stop in a while, leaving a trail of dried tears on his cheeks and a snotty nose, he stays where he is, in Jongin’s embrace.

One of Jongin’s hand comes up to lightly ruffle Sehun’s hair, and he smiles at how soft Sehun’s hair feels underneath his finger. The drench on Jongin’s chest area finally comes to realization, the material sticking to his skin as he decides he’ll probably tease Sehun about it later when he feels better.

There’s a hint of movement to where Sehun’s head rests as Jongin sees the brunette finally looking up at him. His tired eyes red swollen showing how delicate he actually is behind his strong attitude, but even after Sehun’s short burst of tears, he still manages to smile at Jongin.

“Slightly better. Give my thanks to your now drenched chest, asshole.”

Jongin stifles a smile at Sehun’s banter, “I will as long as you’re feeling better. Your eyes are swollen. If you want your eyes to look better, use cold water.”

“How should I do it?”Sehun’s voice comes out raspy, his throat dried up from the lack of water as he just cried a lot, and without further ado, Jongin guides Sehun to sit on the sofa, before walking towards where Junmyeon and Chen.

Sehun’s voice comes out raspy, his throat dried up from the lack of water as he just cried a lot, and without further ado, Jongin guides Sehun to sit on the sofa, before walking towards where Junmyeon and Chen.

After he makes sure either Junmyeon or Chen gets warm water for Sehun, Jongin heads into the bathroom, taking the glass on the counter, and filling it with icy cold water from the sink. In a hassle, Jongin takes long strides back to where Sehun is sitting.

Crouching down, Jongin dips his finger into the glass of water, shrugging off how freezing the water is before he asks for Sehun to close his eyes as he runs over his wet fingertips over his eyelids and under the eye.

Sehun’s eyelids flutter under Jongin’s cold fingers, before it calms down, letting the cold water soothe his burning eye area. He notices someone closing in, pushing something to his arm, “Here, Sehun, drink the water slowly.”

It’s Junmyeon, and Sehun’s hand flails around a moment to search for the glass Junmyeon is holding. When he finds it, he could feel the warmth from the glass as he drinks it, his throat finally feeling less dry. 

Just as Sehun opens his eyes after he feels nothing on his eyelids, Jongin is looking at him with an expression that he can’t fathom. Junmyeon is smiling by his side, taking the empty glass away from Sehun’s hand.

His mind reminds him about the time as he glances around the room, searching for a clock. 

As if Jongin could read him, he answers with a shrug of his shoulder, “It’s 7 am, Sehun. Don’t worry, you won’t be late at all as long as you get there before 10 because Balenciaga starts at 12.”

“Awesome, thanks for that expert tip or I would’ve panicked in making a mess for my first show.”

“You won’t, Sehun, you won’t. If you ever feel troubled with the unfamiliar eyes staring at you, find mine in the crowd,” noticing Junmyeon closing in, Jongin glances at him, “Or find Junmyeon’s eyes.”

Startled at the mention of his name, Junmyeon gives a curious gaze towards Jongin, “What were you talking about?”

“I was saying to Sehun, if he ever feels nervous with the crowd, he can search for your eyes or mine.”

“That’s a good tip. Keep that in mind, Sehun, but wait,” a smile that Sehun knows very well, or in another word, Junmyeon’s dumb smile, forms on his lips as he glances at Jongin, “How will he find us when he really can’t look around?”

“If you come with me, we’ll be put in the middle section of the runway. Usually, models would stop by there, and Sehun can easily look at us in the front row.”

“Then it’s settled! Chen and I will go with Jongin so you can look for us.”

Everything about Junmyeon and Jongin’s exchange is so out of place that it leaves Sehun contemplating in a silence of what happened between them. He asks confusedly when he feels like he regains his normal voice, “Junmyeon, why are you suddenly so nice to Jongin? I thought you’re still vengeful.”

“You should ask Chen about that,” and Junmyeon points at him with both of his hand, earning a loud groan from the younger one. 

They spend another half an hour to prepare Sehun and have him change his top because it was drenched with tears. Jongin also excuses himself to change into another top, leaving Sehun ashamed that his tears—and mucus—got all over Jongin’s top.

He checks himself out one last time, making sure his puffy eyes aren’t as worse as before, and he’s surprised it had gotten better after the cold water, followed by eye drops and face mist. Closing the door behind him, he meets Jongin’s nervous yet encouraging face, and he smiles, “Hey, I’m leaving with Chen. Junmyeon says he’ll be going later with you.”

Jongin nods, smiling to himself, “It’s so nice of your brother to be cool around me. I thought I will forever be on his blacklist.”

“You were almost permanently staying on that list though, but Chen did some sort of magic that changed his mind.”

“I know, I have to give him my thanks,” Jongin laughs nervously, his hands scratches the back of his neck in an attempt to loosen up. It shifts into an awkward silence as Sehun waits for Jongin, while the latter is caught up in feeling nervous.

_What are you doing, Jongin? It’s just Sehun._

“Anyways,” Jongin mutters softly, his eyes are gazing somewhere else instead of focusing on Sehun’s, “Good luck, stiff. Have fun as well that will show a lot in your walk. Don’t forget your new trademark move, glance everyone around you or glance back. Remember to find Junmyeon’s, Chen’s or my eyes if you ever feel anxious at the crowd. What else?”

Sehun finds it adorable that Jongin is rambling with his eyes glancing everywhere else, not even once catching Sehun’s. Even until now, the journalist’s plump lips are still going on with his rambling until it stops when Sehun pulls him in a sudden embrace.

Under his arms, Sehun could feel the shorter boy tensing, his hands stay mid-air as Sehun eventually places them both on his back. He nuzzles into Jongin’s neck, a hint of a musky smell of wood and sea salt invades his senses, and he finds himself loving it.

Whispering to Jongin’s ear, “Thank you for everything, Jongin. I know I’ve said these tons of times already but my thank you will be incomparable to the help you’ve given. I hope you know that you’ve earned yourself a place in my heart.”

_Oh shit, was that hinting on a confession? Shit._

Sehun pulls back, and he chuckles nervously when he notices Jongin is stuck onto his place, blinking with his lips sealed shut. 

Setting aside his insecurity on the possible slip up of a confession, he steps closer, hands fisting as he grins widely at his favorite mentor as he finally admits so, “I’ll do well, for me, and for you too, asshole.”

The last thing Jongin sees before he snaps back from his daze is Sehun skipping across the hallway, and he could finally smile, one of his hand rests on his chest, feeling the steady heartbeat. He can’t wait to see Sehun grace the runway in front of everyone.


	4. Four

It’s a welcoming feeling when Sehun is once again, in the backstage of a show. Everyone is hustling here and a makeup artist is handling the eyeliner on him, hiding his puffy eyes. Being around in backstage is familiar, close to heart even, but it’s also a very new atmosphere for him when he doesn’t see any familiar faces.

Sehun thought he might at least meet one of his friends but so far, he sees new faces giving him a look of confusion probably at the sight of a new model in a fashion show in Paris. Some were kindly smiling back at him, a warm welcome to a bigger step into the industry but others pass by him in silence, almost disregarding.

Shrugging it off, he opens the camera feature in his Instagram. Aiming his phone at the mirror, he takes a mirror selfie with his face hidden behind his phone. Sehun then adjusts the brightness and saturation to his liking before he posts it with a caption, _“men’s fashion week paris day 1! hello, Balenciaga <3.”_

The staff goes around the backstage, shouting something in French and Sehun is terrified he couldn’t understand anything until a staff comes by and leads him away from the vanity. Only when he sees the rows of clothing hangers that he understands he’s going to fit in the clothes and show is about to start soon. As if on cue, the adrenaline comes rushing through his body as Sehun is giddy over the first outfit he’ll be wearing.

Balenciaga’s men collections had always been very simple whether in design or types of fabric and being honest, Sehun likes their lines of bags more. The staff fits him into a black suit, black shirt, crimson red belt, finishing off with a white colored fusion of sneakers and dress shoes.

Unlike buttoning up the dress shirt as how he usually dresses for suits, they leave it unbuttoned, with Sehun’s upper body on bare. The staff gives the last touch up on his perm-styled hair before they usher Sehun into a line.

As the line moves closer to the platform of the runway, his irregular heart beat only arises, and Sehun silently prays that his balance won’t fail him. An image of Jongin smiling flashes through his mind and he smiles, willing himself to do his best in return of Jongin’s help.

His heart beat follows the rhythm from the song playing in the background, and he closes his eyes to calm himself when he’s next in turn. The staff cues him to walk and _here goes nothing…_

He walks at a steady pace across the runway, the crowd cramping around the side of the platform with their phones up. Remembering he has a habit to turn stiff, his shoulders loosen up at his command.

Gaze trained ahead, and with the song accompanying the steady pace of his walk, Sehun realizes, the weight he felt a moment ago lifts away. There’s a sole mission stuck in his head from one of Jongin’s wise quotes, and that is, _having fun while I sweep the runway._

He reaches to the middle section, posing for awhile and noting back Jongin’s tip for his trademark move. Sehun does so, gazing briefly to those near him and he catches a glimpse of Jongin and Junmyeon smiling at him.

That was a moment when Sehun feels every bit of confidence he had already, build up even more at the sight of their smiles on their lips. Sehun continues walking after he feels he’s been lingering long enough, and when he reaches the front, he poses again.

Turning around on his heels, Sehun gazes back to the cameras trained on him, effortlessly showing his piercing stare before he walks back to the backstage. He makes sure to pose again before he turns into the door of the backstage, heart pounding again.

The euphoria of his first appearance finally settles down as his head throbs at the excitement he has for the show, anticipating to come on the platform again. When he does, he always has his gaze towards Junmyeon—a tear slip past his cheeks a moment ago—, Chen, and Jongin for a boost of confidence.

By the end of the show, the staff shouts something in French, and although he doesn’t understand any of it, he smiles at his first show wrapping up without any mistakes. A few models come up to him, hugging him briefly with either saying congrats or they’ll be seeing Sehun in the after party.

At the mention of the after party, Sehun isn’t sure if he wants to go when Paris is there for him to explore. Junmyeon and Chen will probably be thick-headed and insist for him to come, while he’s not sure if an after party is Jongin’s kind of crowd. 

Just as he finishes changing into his regular day clothes, his crowd comes in, rowdy with their loud clapping.

Chen’s clap is deafening in the backstage, the curves on the corner of his lips prominent as he pulls the taller boy into a hug, chanting, “My favorite boy, Oh Sehun!” Next is Junmyeon, pulling him into a tight, suffocating embrace but Sehun knows he meant well when he even cried at one point in the show.

Jongin is the last to come up at him and Sehun, as expectant as he can be, waits for a compliment from the journalist because he needs to hear Jongin verbally complimenting him for once. Meanwhile Jongin, staying true to his sole purpose of being an asshole only gives the model a smug smile, “You’re fishing for a compliment from me aren’t you?”

“I’m so touched that you know me so well.”

“I’ve known you more than I ever imagined,” Jongin’s eyes widen for blurting something else before he schools back his features, “Makes me easy to read you.”

“Everyone says I’m an open book anyway. So Jongin, how about it?”

“About what, Sehun?”

His foot starts tapping onto the floor impatiently when Sehun realizes Jongin intentionally teases him. The journalist loves being an asshole, and it’s not the first time that he teases the brunette, in fact, it’s too many to count. 

In Jongin’s own glee at the sight of Sehun grunting with his arms crossing, he laughs before his hand comes up to ruffle Sehun’s hair to find that it’s hair sprayed and it tangled easily around his fingers. 

Apologizing after he pulls his hand back, Jongin winks playfully, “You won’t be getting it now, Sehun. Wait until your last show, so keep up with everything that I taught you.”

Sehun sighs, “When will you ever take down your asshole-ness less a notch?”

“My asshole is top notch, I’m sorry I can’t take it down even for you.”

Sehun’s hearts skips a beat, and his gaze falls at Jongin’s before Chen cuts in with a loud cough, clapping along with every word he says, “Sorry but chop chop, Sehun, we have Valentino at 3:30 so let’s go!”

They leave the backstage quickly but go their separate ways. Sehun and Chen rush to Valentino’s venue while Junmyeon and Jongin go back to their own separate car to Sehun’s confusion until Chen explains with a click of his tongue, “Your brother will be changing for Valentino, but Jongin needs to attend Berluti before Valentino.”

The cameras snapping photos around him isn’t a bother anymore when he’s in a rush, and Sehun walks into the waiting car in long strides but not before Jongin leans into his ear, an encouraging pat on his back, “Good luck, Sehun. You’ll meet my pair of familiar eyes again soon.”

 

 

The positive feedbacks and critics Sehun had been getting in the past few days of his show in Paris had been overwhelming, and he couldn’t believe his eyes at the number of praises. They specifically accentuate on the significant improvements that are easily noticeable, from Sehun’s posture to his strong key point.

He shows it all to Junmyeon, who in response, rushes to the window of their hotel room, opening it before he screams at dead of the night, “My little brother is a super model! Sehun is a super model!” 

Chen walks into their room just in time at the fiasco, and hurriedly pulls Junmyeon away to avoid further embarrassment of Junmyeon shouting something else or if a pedestrian happens to walk by and reports a noise complaint coming from a hotel room.

As Sehun said before, fashion week has a pace of its own, and it affects to the people contributing to it especially with him, who’s been walking back to back in different shows. Behind the pace that he’s eager to follow behind, Sehun struggles to even catch a breath.

Amidst the hassle and fatigue weighing Sehun after his last show of the day, walking in shows after shows induce such immense delight that continuously causes him to forget his needs for food and drink if it weren’t for Chen scolding him.

It’s even hopeless for his wish to roam around Paris after an after party. The moment Sehun touches the soft mattress of the hotel’s bed, it glues him back and eventually lulling him to sleep. He simply concludes that it’s best to halt the Paris adventure until fashion week is over.

But with time passing by in speed, fashion week is drawing to an end as it moves on to the last day of the week. Filling in for more than one brand every day in the fashion week, the last day is no different than any other previous day. 

Earlier Sehun had walked for Lanvin, Kenzo, and now, he just finished walking for Thom Browne. He’s rolling into his last show for the week and the closing show for Men’s Fashion Week Paris, Saint Laurent, the brand Sehun is most thrilled to walk in. 

Sehun admits, he’s having the time of his life that he couldn’t believe it’ll be ending soon, much to his annoyance how everything is slowly turning into memory to cherish in the later days.

He doesn’t want fashion week to end so fast as he comes to love every moment of it. It’s official that Men’s Fashion Week Paris is Sehun’s highlight of the year, and he doesn’t care if they’re only getting through the first half of the year.

Along with how great fashion week is, the first half of the year has a bit of a twist with a newcomer suddenly turning into a significant figure Sehun has, and that is Kim Jongin. The journalist had been so grounded in his words that he still doesn’t give any compliments to the brunette until now.

Sehun doesn’t realize that he goes through his days with a sliver of thought about Jongin and his heart continues to be resilient, acting on its own when one time, he texted Jongin on impulse, earning a tease from the older one since he never texts the journalist.

His mind silently gives a brief mental note that he’s not the only person affected by the hassle but Jongin as well. Sehun could barely see Jongin any longer than meeting him backstage after shows before he takes off into another show that he wasn’t walking in. 

Although Junmyeon and Chen remain as a comforting company, even amidst all their banter towards each other behind him, he misses Jongin. Sehun had finally come to term that he does have feelings for Jongin and he does miss Jongin’s warm presence.

Eyes focusing back to where he is, Sehun sends his gaze to his surrounding of a crowd cheering and shouting for his name, and he offers a smile, causing more people to scream. The guards around him struggle to make way for Sehun as he rushes inside the car, relieved to escape from the crowd.

He came to his senses that someone else is sitting inside the car with him and when Sehun glances to his side, he’s surprised to see not Junmyeon, but the said boy he was thinking about a moment ago, Jongin. 

Jongin’s gaze stays on Sehun’s for awhile before the latter breaks the eye contact with a hoarse cough. He’s late to register Chen’s absence, and he panics in a split second before a voice from the rear front calms him down, “I’m in front, Sehun, don’t worry too much.”

“Where’s Junmyeon?”

“He said he needed to grab something back to the hotel, so he’s in a different car. He promises to catch your last show.”

“I hope he does because I’m most excited for this show.”

“Does he ever broken his promise even with his title as a VP?”

Smiling to himself, Sehun is reminded of how thankful he is for having such a supportive brother that would put work aside and have family come first. It even came as a surprise to him back when Junmyeon announces that he could go to Paris for him.

Always, Junmyeon always gets a green light when it comes to him, and behind all the embarrassing things Junmyeon does, Sehun will always love the older sibling.

“How are you feeling? This will be your last show.”

Jongin’s voice resonates inside the car, seeking for anything that Sehun’s eyes could show. There’s a momentary sadness in his eyes, and Jongin understands why. It is Sehun’s first show in Paris and it’s coming to an end with his favorite brand.

“I wish everything can slow down so the moment can simmer longer and let me feel like I am in it. I wish I can imprint everything about this trip because it’s been so good to me that I feel like it’s impossible to be even better.”

“It’s bound to get better or worse, but I’m putting my finger on better, just for your sake.”

“Thanks, I guess? Anyways, I’m still waiting for your compliment, where is it?”

Jongin laughs at Sehun’s demanding voice. He wants to give a compliment wholeheartedly, heck Jongin even thinks he could go as far as showering the younger with compliments but what’s the fun part of having something so soon?

“One more show to go, Sehun. Hold on a bit longer.”

“But Jongin, why do you have to wait until the last show? It’s not like anyone would put you down if you compliment me now.”

“So persistent, aren’t you? Because that’s just how I like it and I’m still an asshole.”

“You indeed are, asshole,” leaning further away from Jongin, Sehun rests his head on the window with his arms crossing, “I hate you.”

Sehun could feel Jongin inching closer as he extends his arm, patting his head and it almost seems affectionate, _or is it just his heart making up things?_ He hears a chuckle before Jongin responds with a cheery voice, “Aww, I hate you too, stiff.”

A snort suddenly emits from the front seat, and Sehun’s gaze snaps towards the front rearview, seeing Chen biting his lip in an attempt to hold back a grin. Grunting, he then shifts his gaze to the window, and with his car moving, the city lights forms a trail of vibrant light as he passes by the streets.

Under the quiet atmosphere inside the car, suddenly shuffling noises could be heard from where Jongin is sitting. His curiosity is piqued, and Sehun turns around, the view of Jongin without any top on meets his eyes. 

Taken aback at the sudden nudity, Sehun could barely mutter any word yet somehow his eyes are reluctant from glancing away. His eyes trace the bare chest he could hardly see under the night, but he takes into account of every help from a few car headlights shining towards them from the back.

Most of the time, Jongin’s arm are always tucked securely under the long sleeves of his top but now when Sehun sees it as it is without any article covering it, he marvels how toned his biceps are. A tingle runs down Sehun's spines from the way the muscles underneath ripple as Jongin stretches his arm to grab the clothes hanging behind.

In betrayal, Sehun’s gaze slides down to Jongin’s abs, and he regrets it instantly as his breath gets caught up in his throat and a huge urge to trace along the outlines of his abs with his hand threatens to shatter his self-control.

A scoff suddenly renders him in a panic of being caught red-handed again for ogling at the journalist. Sehun cautiously looks up to Jongin’s face, only to have himself gulping at the sight of Jongin’s hooded eyes staring back, a smirk on his lips.

“Enjoying too much of the view, Sehun?”

Sehun could feel the constant heat growing in his cheeks. With his mouth sealed shut, he pulls himself together and glances back towards the window in silence, as an amused Jongin starts fitting into his dress shirt.

The thought of Jongin buttoning up his shirt is so appealing to Sehun that he finds himself difficult to suppress the need to look again, in which he failed terribly as he steals a glance from the corner of his eyes. He could see Jongin buttoning up his shirt in an agonizing pace that it’s close to teasing the brunette.

A chuckle slips past Jongin’s lips and Sehun snaps his head almost immediately, seeing Jongin’s lingering gaze on him, a smirk on the corner of his plump lips as he manages the eye contact until he buttons it all up, leaving the top 2 buttons undone. 

Sehun notices Jongin giving him a look, but he couldn’t really put a finger what the look means until Jongin cringes, “Do you still want to see me change into my pants?”

Embarrassed, Sehun’s eyes widen before he looks away, blurting, “No, no!”

Chen silently cautious of the whole ordeal loses it and laughs hysterically, earning a scolding gaze and a whine from Sehun. Among their constant witty comebacks, Chen swears that his favorite model and the journalist is bound to be inseparable.

 

 

There’s no reason for him to slack off because it is Sehun’s last show of the week and he swore he will give the best of the best for every show. Let’s not forget, it’s _Saint Laurent._

His heart starts thundering at the adrenaline coursing through his body like it's his first day again as Sehun waits for his turn to walk on the platform. It’s longer than the common runway platform as it expands throughout the venue.

Sehun gives a last look in the mirror. Just by seeing the first outfit he’s wearing, he could feel the delight just from dressing full body with Saint Laurent. A black leather jacket with white foldings hugging the chiffon black and red dots shirt he’s donning.

Skinny jeans with a cropped hem and a black leather belt give a more polished look to the grunge, and the sharply pointed leather boots, black fedora hat and rounded glasses complete the look that Sehun has come to love.

Sehun feels like the outfit suits him perfectly as if it’s made for him and he stole a moment to ask someone a favor of taking a full body picture of him in the outfit. He thinks he’s never looked this good in an outfit of a look Sehun usually doesn’t go to. Now, he’s convinced he should try more grungy outfits. 

The staff gives a sincere smile behind Sehun’s phone, “Tu es beau,” but sadly, Sehun doesn’t understand French and could only reply with a “Merci,” without knowing what the staff just said.

The suspense he feels when he’s next in turn to walk on the runway leads him to take proper breaths, his erratic heartbeat defeating the music blaring in the background. Jongin’s face comes to Sehun’s mind again, and at a time like this, his mind had started being accustomed to showing Jongin to calm him down.

Remembering the scheme of the runway, he doesn’t know where exactly are Jongin, Junmyeon and Chen sitting but Sehun hopes they’re sitting in one of the spots where he poses. He needs encouragement to survive throughout the show.

Staff gives him a cue to go, and Sehun sucks a deep breath, pulling himself together as his feet takes him into the view of the crowd.

_Here goes nothing. You can do it, Sehun!_

He struts the runway confidently, balancing against the stiff leather of his boots. Sehun’s hands slip into the pockets of his pants as the staffs instructed, and he maintains his gaze straight ahead.

He stops at a section, posing for a while before he pulls his trademark move, that is quite helpful in the matter of searching for familiar eyes. Sehun glances briefly around him, failing to find the familiar eyes he’s reconciled oneself to.

Moving on, Sehun’s feet takes him to another spot on the runway, and he meets the unfamiliar crowd’s eyes on him again after he gives his trademark move. A tinge of disappointment forms inside his heart but keeping a positivity that his crowd could be sitting around the center area.

Entering into the large portion of the runway, Sehun stops in the middle as he poses to the crowd on his left, eyes searching around the crowd and he’s glad he has glasses on or it would’ve been noticeable how his eyes are looking around.

Sehun gives a last final look when he still fails to find his company before he poses to the crowd on the right, and relief rushes through his body when he meets Jongin’s eyes firsthand in the front row. There’s a wide grin on Jongin’s lips, and he discreetly shows both of his thumbs up to Sehun.

An urge to smile almost causing Sehun to lose focus and he’s amazed at how such a simple encouraging gesture from Jongin boosts his confidence. He shifts his gaze next to Jongin, Chen looks at him with a proud look and Junmyeon has his phone up, a smile also on his lips.

As he lingers in the area, Sehun knows his timing is on track, and he wasn’t staying too long in that particular area as he turns on his heels, with a look intentionally directed towards where his crowd is sitting.

The boost of confidence really helps a lot as he struts the runway, oozing with confident and charisma with the mere thought that he’s happy walking on the runway and having his crowd encourage him.

Sehun’s obsession towards the set of clothes he’s donning takes a part of his confidence throughout the show. He loves the last set in particular, as it makes up for a satin black dress shirt and a black vest with matching black dress pants.

The black suit he’s wearing consist of crimson red cuffs with gold beads and embroideries sewn all over the article, bringing a touch of royalty to the outfit but still withholding Saint Laurent’s signature style. Having the fedora hat on and a pair of black full brogues shoes, Sehun achieves the chic grungy concept to its finest.

By the end of the show, everyone is cheering backstage for the success closing of Men’s Fashion Week and Sehun is in content with the amount of joy from successfully closing the show with a charismatic suave persona he thought he could never show off.

Some of the guests with access—mostly relatives or companies—comes to the backstage, turning the heat of the room slightly higher. Feeling the suffocation from the lack of air circulating around the backstage, Sehun spots a less crowded part of the backstage and proceeds to cut his way through.

That’s when he notices Junmyeon and Chen’s hand waving in the air, signaling where they are and Sehun responds with a gesture for them to come up to where he is instead. The two of them struggles hastily through, causing him to chuckle at the sight of their bewilderment from the crowd. 

Sehun momentarily wonders where Jongin is before he spots him a few steps behind, annoyance written all over his face. Once in a while, he gives the most scolding look the journalist could put on to the person bumping around him and efficiently, they cowered and make way for the journalist.

When they reach to Sehun, in a blink, Chen crouches down as he gasps for air, “That, I did not expect. I can’t bear to go through that again.”

Sehun smiles, “Warm up, Chen. You finally got to me after the sea of the crowd!”

Someone pulls him down into a tight hug, and he notices it’s Junmyeon—apart from having been pulled down because of their height difference—. The older mumbles close to his ear, “I’m so proud of you, Sehunnie. So so proud of you, and I’m glad I witnessed you prospering in all of your walks.”

Sehun reciprocates the hug, feeling Junmyeon slightly shaking. He’s not surprised to see a tear slip past Junmyeon’s eyes when he looks down before the older wipes it away quickly. 

His heart softens at the sight of Junmyeon crying from happiness and the thought that that happiness is for him, for what Sehun has become as of the fashion week is indescribable.

Feeling a tear forming in his eyes, Sehun holds back, blinking continuously as he rubs Junmyeon’s back, “Thank you Hyung, for always being here for me. I wish I can tell you how grateful I am to always have your company along with my schedules.”

“Well, you can say the ‘words’ you avoided so much.”

“No, I’m not going to say it.”

“Come on, what better time to say it than now?”

“Fine,” Sehun sighs before mentally preparing the next cheesy words, “I love you, Hyung.”

“Aw, I love you too, baby brother.”

Sehun lets his older brother enjoy the time where he didn’t complain from being called the nickname just because they’re all currently celebrating for him.

Chen comes next, with Sehun’s favorite smile, the distinct curling on the corner of his lips as he pulls Sehun down inside his arm, his other hand comes up to mess Sehun’s hair. The younger lets a surprised yelp before he laughs care freely, fond of the rare moments when Chen expresses how proud he is.

“You came through, Sehun, you really did. I’ve never said this before because like how you avoided saying ‘I love you’ to Junmyeon, I avoided saying cheesy stuff too, but now is an exception.”

His manager pauses, and Sehun waits in anticipation of what Chen is about to say because everytime Chen says something appreciative about him, it’s always different from one another.

“Throughout my experience and journey in the fashion industry, my most triumphant moment is when I decided to be your manager, and I still think that having you as my only client is a triumph. You’re special, Sehun, and a brother from another mother.”

Awed at Chen’s appreciative words, Sehun extends his arm to pull his manager into a hug, and Chen hugs back, for once staying silent in his equally tight hold. Lowering his head slightly, Sehun whispers, “Glad to have you too, Jongdae. Always am.”

A sniffle follows after Chen pulls back from the hug, and the tear slipping from his eyes doesn’t go unnoticed by Sehun. He gives his manager a firm squeeze on the shoulders, and the latter offers a smile.

And finally, Sehun faces the one person that had been persistently showing up in the back of his mind, the one that had been growing in his heart and puts him with such ease at the height of his anxiety.

He turns to face Jongin, and the bright grin on Jongin’s lips catches Sehun staggering in his stand because it’s _that_ beautiful smile that can melt even the coldest heart. The smile that first enchanted Sehun awhile back and had him placing Jongin’s smile as his number one favorite.

Ignoring the blush creeping up his cheeks, Sehun tilts his chin up in a smug manner as he crosses his arm, “So, where’s the compli—.”

Without letting the brown haired boy finish, Jongin pulls him closer abruptly, their chest colliding lightly. His mind couldn’t further process what’s happening until he sees Jongin leaning in and before he knows it, he feels a warm pair of lips pressing gently on his.

And at that fleeting moment, Sehun loses all his senses of his surroundings. Everything around him blurs as his focus falls onto Jongin’s lips moving slowly against his and it felt so right and gentle and just _everything_ he wanted it to be.

Just as Sehun starts enjoying the kiss, Jongin pulls back too soon to his liking, causing a whine to tumble from Sehun’s lips and a hearty laugh from the journalist. Sehun opens his eyes slowly and has another pair of eyes staring back at him tenderly, Jongin’s arm encircling around his waist.

“About time,” Sehun sighs in content, unable to look away from the journalist’s eyes, “Why did you have to wait so long for that?”

“I was waiting for the momentum. I guess I did well in catching you breathless?”

“You already did, Jongin.”

“So shall we move on to my next wish then? I was hoping I can sweep you off your feet or have I succeeded so as well?”

A loud cough interrupts their conversation as Sehun discerns now that Jongin just kissed him in front of Chen and _Junmyeon._ He groggily turns towards Junmyeon and stunned to see the adoring eyes on his brother.

Meanwhile, Chen seems so irritated that he could only let out a guttural shout with his arms flailing, “I was rooting for you both and you don’t know how happy I am now but please, for the love of God, spare the PDA for our innocent eyes.”

Sehun falls into fits of laughter as Jongin follows after with an equally joyous laugh, but Chen dismisses it with a roll of his eyes and a groan. Shockingly, Junmyeon watches the exchange without uttering any word, and he smiles when Sehun looks at him.

“Doesn’t this come as a shock to you, Hyung?”

“Let me put it this way, there are benefits from going to your shows with Jongin. Aside from getting seated in the middle section, I get to know more of him.”

“You did? Really?”

Junmyeon nods, “He even asked my permission to be with you.”

“See how dedicated of a boyfriend I am to you,” Jongin’s confident voice makes a return as he winks at Sehun.

Sehun’s heart skips a beat but it wasn’t from Jongin’s wink, it’s from Jongin calling himself as his boyfriend. As _Sehun’s_ boyfriend. They haven’t even properly confessed towards each other and Jongin seems so at ease when admitting as his boyfriend.

“Since when are we boyfriends? I haven’t heard the classic confession from you and neither you from me.”

“Sweetheart, we’re boyfriends from the moment you stared at me while I was changing.”

Vexed by Jongin’s bluntness, Sehun steps away as his arm comes to punch Jongin on his arm, and to his misery, Jongin doesn’t budge and continues on laughing.

Sehun thinks that after Jongin’s laughter dies down, the journalist would spare him the embarrassment but turns out he’s wrong and it surprisingly comes from someone else.

“That’s honestly something that Sehun would do,” Junmyeon chuckles as he stares at the younger brother.

“Shut up, Hyung!” he yells irritatedly, the situation they put him in triggers Sehun to groan out loud on having to handle two people with their raucous laughter.

 

 

“Beautiful isn’t it?”

Jongin’s voice clear as it can be as they lean against the ledge of the balcony in Jongin’s hotel room, the view of the Eiffel Tower lighted up remains prettier than it is daytime. After a long night from Saint Laurent’s after party, they both decide to stay sober and spend the rest of the midnight staring at Paris from their hotel.

Nothing beats roaming around the city as he lurks around the corners of the streets, but seeing Paris in almost a bird eye view shows how Paris lives up to being one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Sehun couldn’t have it any better seeing such view than having Jongin next to him.

“It is. I’ve already missed fashion week, but I can’t say I’m not excited for tomorrow.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“It’s an open invitation, Jongin. You can come even if you don’t ask.”

“Is this the perks of being your boyfriend?”

Jongin disregards his glasses a moment ago in which Sehun could clearly see him wiggling his eyebrows teasingly. His shoulders briefly bump at Jongin’s as he speaks up, “When will the proper confession come, Jongin?”

“It will never come, Sehun,” and as Jongin laughs, he looks back to the view in front of them, closing his eyes when he feels a gust of wind blowing towards them. 

The blow of the wind tosses Jongin’s barely dry hair to the other side as he had just finished showering, dressed in his pajamas. Ordinary but in Sehun’s eyes, Jongin just couldn’t look any better, and whether he’s polished or not, Jongin remains as lovely as he can be.

_Or that’s just me, head over heels for the journalist._

“If you don’t want to start confessing, then I will,” Sehun whispers that can only be heard by both of them.

“I’m never good with words and people closest to me concludes that I express better by my actions. Chen knows I like you even before I realize I do and I was so late to realize just a few days ago.”

“Wait, so it’s recent?”

Sehun nods, he’s mentally laughing at himself, “A shocker isn’t it?”

“Not really, considering how dumb you are sometimes,” and as gleeful as he is, Sehun serves him with a loud smack, causing the older one to mutter a grim, “Ow,” as he rubs onto his arm.

“But really, how do you realize it?”

“Basically I couldn’t stop thinking about you, but it got even more complicated when just thinking about your face, soothes me. It’s unsettling because no one could calm my pre-show anxiety and the image of you just effortlessly did.”

Sehun frowns when he expected a response but gets nothing in return from the journalist, not even a glance. Little did Sehun notices, Jongin is trying to memorize Sehun’s words in his mind, sparking the ceaseless beating of his heart and the smile on his lips.

In the familiar silence between them, Jongin’s arm silently holds out to Sehun’s arm before he pulls him until the brunette crashes to his side. Flustered at their proximities, Sehun continues to be amazed how such little intimate things Jongin does elicits a bundle of emotions inside him.

One he could discern is the pleasant feeling of being loved by someone. Personal space doesn’t exist between them and there’s no sense of being evaded whatsoever.

_And that’s exactly what Jongin is doing to me._

There’s fondness in Jongin’s eyes when he stares at Sehun’s before he grins and leans in closer, a pleased look on his face. Sehun closes his eyes as he waits for what’s to come but it doesn’t happen until he feels a light bump on the tip of his nose that he opens his eyes.

Jongin is still staring at him, the soft gaze unfazed as he gives a nose boop from his own. He whispers against the wind of the night, “I can relate from realizing too late. I didn’t know that I liked you even though I already did when I first wrote your article.”

Breathless, Sehun whispers back, “When did you realize that you do?”

“When you left the door that time we met, and loneliness somehow conquered my conscious and mind that I did one thing that I know would help us both.”

“To be my mentor.”

Jongin hums in response, as he sighs in content when he sees the crescent moon shaped of Sehun’s eyes when he smiles. There’s a tap to where Sehun rests his hand and Jongin nods, “Was it your best decision?”

“No, not really. My best decision was to be a journalist.”

A pinch on Jongin’s back comes soon after, catching Jongin by surprise as he lets out a shriek. Sehun’s rowdy laugh fills the quiet air of the night despite it slowly becoming Jongin’s favorite thing of Sehun.

“One of the best decisions I ever made,” Jongin whispers when Sehun’s laughter dies down. In which he sees Jongin’s eyes glued to where his lips are that Sehun closes his eyes again, leaning in closer to the older as his lips lands on Jongin’s pair.

Their lips start moving in unison, gasps of breath in between of their parted lips. A whimper escapes from Sehun as Jongin deepens the kiss, his fingers tangling in Sehun’s brown locks. As if their proximity isn’t enough, Sehun pulls Jongin closer when they break apart, lips glistening and eyes glazed with warmth.

Ultimately, Sehun wouldn’t want it to be any better. In front of them is the view of Paris, the city of love as how cliché it sounds, but he did find love from whom he thought he wouldn’t, and that’s where the charm reveals itself.

Jongin mumbles, barely above a whisper as his fingers comb the strands of Sehun’s brown hair, “Stay with me, stiff.”

His grip on Jongin’s back doesn’t loosen as Sehun smiles, staring lovingly at the soft eyes staring back at him, “Always, asshole.”

 

 

 

_One Year Later…_

**VOGUE:**  

Oh Sehun and Kim Jongin grazing the covers of Vogue’s Special Anniversary Edition.

 

After they had revealed their relationship publicly, they caused a wave of euphoria and frenzy across the world from the unexpected announcement. Whether a fashion enthusiast, a fan, or even the public, in general, share the same thought of the power resting in Oh Sehun and Kim Jongin’s relationship, thus earning the title _Fashion’s Power Couple._ With this, VOGUE brings the couple into the cover of our Special Anniversary Edition and also marking Jongin’s first appearance back as a model. An exclusive interview unveils an insight of their activities and how their relationship develops, here are a few of our favorites.

**_Q. How did you two officially meet for the first time?_ **

_J:    We met backstage when Sehun walks for McQueen’s fall collection, I was introduced to him by a friend and a senior PR, Minseok_

_S:     *laughs* That didn’t end quite well since you criticized me and wrote a negative article_

_J:     *laughs* I totally did but how would I know that it will lead to a happy ending for both of us?_

 

**_Q. What do you find in each other that you don’t have?_ **

_S:    Jongin’s wits and ego because that’s what makes up most of him. Sadly, I’ve come to the point of liking it_

_J:    For me, is the warmth Sehun radiates. He always accepts me with open arms and a bright smile. It’s amazing especially after a rough day_

_S:    Now I feel sorry for my answer *laughs* can I take it back?_

 

**_Q. The things that you overcome in your relationship?_ **

_J:    Mainly our significantly different schedules *laughs* something that I overcome for him is my egos. I have an enormous pride in myself, but Sehun keeps me rooted to the ground in which helps me in being selfless_

_S:    I guess my lack of speaking up about my feelings. I tend to show what I feel through actions more, it’s great, but sometimes, words are needed more and Jongin has a huge part in helping me overcome that_

_J:    I push him to talk more, and now he’s nearly as talkative as I am_

_S:    *laughs* It’s your impact, Jongin_

 

**_Q. What would you say about your relationship? Do you compare it to something or is there anything that defines it?_ **

_J:    We started off as if we were archenemies, in which I don’t disagree but it lead us to our relationship today, and that’s what I think as astonishing. Through our different standings, we managed to come together and find similarities between one another while letting our indifferences complete each other. So what defines us is completing each other and knowing that if you’re used to being alone, you’ll find it surprising when you leave room for two_

_S:    As an introvert, we all would like a time for ourselves but having someone else’s presence around is something that should be appreciated more even when you don’t talk, you’re just there together. You share the sense of unity and safety from each other’s presence, and really, it’s incomparable so I would choose the word “home” to define our relationship_

 

Oh Sehun, the breakthrough model with god-like features who reached and now planted his name among the biggest names of models in the industry, and Kim Jongin, the elegant youngest son of the Kims yet built an empire behind his name alone as a model and journalist. The crowd once called Jongin as _Asia’s First Love_ while recently the same crowd gave Sehun the title _King of Asia_ , but the public is the witnesses to the birth of an iconic duo. They shed on a whole new level as people turn their heads whenever they walk by, causing whispers among the crowd, “the Power Couple had just walked by.” **_Oh Sehun and Kim Jongin, where the beauty meets the grace._**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by my talk with my cousin of how Sehun would be a great model if only SM pushes him to it. I want to see more of model Sehun, don't we all?  
> And we finally come to the end of this fic! My first completed chaptered fic and seriously, thank you all for the love and patience <3 I'm such a slow writer but it was so fun writing this and I hope you enjoyed reading it too *^* seeing and/or imagining Sehun and Jongin dabbling in the fashion world will never be enough and let's spread the sekai love c: <3


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